Hearing set in Iowa teen sex trafficking victim Pieper Lewis’ escape case
Lewis #Lewis
In a brief proceeding Friday, a Polk County judge set a Jan. 18 evidentiary hearing in connection with the escape of Pieper Lewis, a sex trafficking victim who in a case that drew national attention received probation at Fresh Start Women’s Center in Des Moines after killing a man she said had raped her.
Lewis, who recently turned 18, faces being ordered to prison after cutting off a GPS tracking device she was required to wear and leaving the women’s center Nov. 4. Des Moines police arrested her Nov. 8, and she remains in the Polk County Jail on misdemeanor escape charge.
She pleaded guilty in June 2021 to voluntary manslaughter and willful injury in the stabbing death a year earlier of Zachary Brooks, a 37-year-old father of three. Then 15, she said a 28-year-old man who trafficked and sexually abused her had sent her to Brooks, who repeatedly raped her. Though the man has not been charged, prosecutors acknowledged during Lewis’ September sentencing that she had been a victim of sex trafficking.
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From 2021A homeless Des Moines teen who killed her alleged rapist faced 20 years in prison. She’s a victim, too, her attorneys say.
She faced up to 20 years in prison for the killing, but Judge David Porter gave her a deferred sentence and placed her on five years’ probation, telling her she was getting a one-and-only “second chance.”
Authorities have not said whether Lewis has told them why she left the women’s center. Prosecutors in a probation revocation report asked for the deferred judgement to be revoked and for her original sentence to be imposed. Court documents do not provide the terms of that original sentence, which weren’t revealed at her sentencing hearing.
Lewis did not appear at Friday’s hearing. Her attorney, Matthew Sheeley, said afterward that the Jan. 18 hearing will concern evidence about Lewis’ escape.
As part of Lewis’ sentence, Porter also her to pay $150,000 to Brooks’ family, as required by state law of people convicted of homicide. A GoFundMe fundraiser to help Lewis pay the restitution raised more than $500,000.
For now, the money remains with the GoFundMe organization as Lewis’ attorneys await a response to their request that Porter overturn the restitution order. It’s unclear how Lewis’ escape will affect those proceedings.
More:What’s next for Pieper Lewis, the Des Moines teen who killed her rapist?
Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Hearing set in Iowa teen sex trafficking victim Pieper Lewis’ escape case