Ousted judge loses coaching job as well
School district says firing was done in the ‘best interest’ of the students
SAN JOSE » Ex-Judge Aaron Persky, who was ousted for his handling of a former Stanford University swimmer’s sexual assault case, has been fired from his new job as a South Bay high school tennis coach.
In a statement Wednesday, the Fremont Union High School District said Persky no longer was employed as the junior varsity girls tennis coach at Lynbrook High School in San Jose.
“We believe this outcome is in the best interest of our students and school community,” the district said. “The district will begin the search for a new coach immediately, with the goal of ensuring that the athletes on the JV tennis team are able to have a successful season.”
The decision came just a day after news broke that Persky had been hired to coach at Lynbrook.
In a statement Tuesday, the district said Persky “was a highly qualified applicant, having attended several tennis coaching clinics for youth and holds a high rating from the United States Tennis Association.”
The district said it had no further comment on the decision to hire — or fire — Persky.
Persky on Wednesday issued a statement about his firing. He said Superintendent Polly Bove “was motivated by a desire to protect the players from the potentially intrusive media attention related to my hiring.”
“Although I am disappointed with the district’s decision, it was a privilege to coach the team, if only for a short time,” Persky said. “I wish all of the players the best in their future academic and athletic endeavors.”
Persky was ousted as a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge in June 2018 after more than 60% of voters who went to the polls agreed he should be recalled over the sentence he gave to Turner.
Prosecutors asked Persky to sentence Turner to six years in state prison for sexually assaulting an intoxicated, unconscious woman outside a campus fraternity party in January 2015.
But Persky, who followed a probation department recommendation in handing down Turner’s sentence, opted for jail, plus three years of probation, noting that under California law Turner also will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. With good behavior, Turner served three months in jail and moved back to his hometown in Ohio.
Persky is only the fifth judge in California history to be booted out of office before his term had expired — and the first in 86 years.
News of Persky’s hiring and firing comes after the woman whom Turner sexually assaulted — long referred to as “Emily Doe” — revealed her real name: Chanel Miller. She plans to tell her own story in a memoir — titled “Know My Name” — due out later this month.