Teen Sex Trafficking Victim Ordered to Pay $150,000 to Rapist's Family?

A judge has been asked to set aside his ruling that an Iowa teen must pay restitution to her rapist's family after she stabbed him dead. 

Pieper Lewis,15, was reportedly being sex trafficked when she killed Zachary Brooks. According to Lewis, her boyfriend pulled a knife on her and forced her to go to Zachary Brooks’ apartment in June 2020. Lewis claimed Brooks, 37, had raped her multiple times in the weeks leading up to the slaying.

Once at the apartment, Brooks allegedly made Lewis get undressed, drink alcohol, and smoke marijuana while they watched a movie. Lewis admitted to stabbing Brooks 30 times, but she claimed she did not plot to kill him.

Instead, she stated that she became enraged after she woke up to Brooks raping her and ignoring her pleas to stop. Lewis pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and willful injury.  She was sentenced to five years of probation and was also ordered to pay $150,000 to the slain man’s family. 

Polk County prosecutors never denied allegations that Pieper was trafficked and a rape victim.  The Des Moines Register reported that state law requires individuals convicted of homicide to pay $150,000.

Polk County District Judge David M. Porter ordered the judgment, to be Brooks’ estate, after rejecting defense attorneys’ argument that he was 51 percent responsible for the deadly incident.

Joining Nancy Grace Today:

• Kathleen Murphy - Family Attorney (North Carolina), NCDomesticlaw.com,  Twitter: @RalDivorceLaw 
• Dr. Carolyn West - Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Washington Tacoma, Award-winning author: " Violence in the Lives of Black Women: Battered, Black, and Blue", Filmmaker: “Let Me Tell Ya’ll ‘Bout Black Chicks: Images of Black Women in Pornography", Keynote Speaker, DrCarolynWest.com  
• Greg Scheffer - Former Phoenix Police Department Detective, 22 Years Specializing in Child Sexual Exploitation, Crimes Against Children, Domestic Violence and Adult Sex Crimes 
• Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan" 
• Phillip Joens - Breaking News Reporter, Des Moines Register (Des Moines, IA), DesMoinesRegister.com, Twitter: @Philip_Joens  

 

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