A young sex trafficking victim from Iowa was initially charged with first-degree murder after stabbing her alleged rapist to death. An Iowa court judge gave her a five-year sentence of probation with close supervision, and she was ordered to pay a whopping $150,000 to the family of her rapist.

In June 2020, Pieper Lewis stabbed 37-year-old Zachary Brooks more than 30 times, killing him. The 17-year-old girl pleaded to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury. Both offenses are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. However, on Tuesday, September 13, Judge David M. Porter deferred the two 10-year prison sentences, which means that if Lewis violates any part of her probation, she could be imprisoned for 20 years.

Judge Porter said the court had no other option than to order the restitution of $150,000. Restitution is mandatory under Iowa law, which the Iowa Supreme Court has upheld.

Lewis was only 15-years-old when she stabbed Brooks in a Des Moines apartment. She had run away from home to escape her abusive adoptive mother. 

While sleeping in the halls of an apartment building, she was found by 28-year-old Christopher Brown, who took her in and took care of her, and started forcibly trafficking her for sex in 2020. 

Brooks was among the men that Lewis was forced to have relations with, and according to her, the late Brooks had raped her several times in the weeks leading up to his death. Lewis hated being forced to go with Brooks but was coerced at knifepoint. That fateful day, after Brooks defiled her, she was full of rage, and she grabbed a knife from the table next to the bed and stabbed him over 30 times.

Although the police and the prosecutors acknowledged that Lewis was a victim of trafficking and sexual assault, the prosecutors argued that Brooks was not an immediate danger to Lewis because he was sleeping when she stabbed him.

Iowa is not part of the 12 states that have safe harbor laws that provide criminal immunity to victims of sex trafficking and commercial sex exploitation.

The Department of Corrections will take Lewis to a halfway house in Des Moines. In addition to her sentence, Lewis must wear a GPS tracker and complete 200 hours of community service.

During the hearing, Lewis read a statement she had prepared in which she called herself a survivor, which prosecutors took an issue with. They claimed that she had failed to take responsibility for the death of Brooks, which left his children without a father.

Lewis admitted to having struggled with following the strict structure of the juvenile detention center, adding that she was not allowed to talk to her friends or family.

The judge noted that Lewis had a hard time following rules while in juvenile detention, but pointed out that her life would be filled with rules that she may not always agree with for the next five years, and that he had given her a second chance at life. He warned that she would not get a third chance.

Iowa has a law that gives victims of crime some leeway if the victim committed the crime under threat or pressure. However, according to prosecutors, Lewis gave up that defense after pleading guilty to manslaughter and willful injury.