A GoFundMe page created for a young sex trafficking victim who was ordered to pay her accused rapist’s family $150,000US has raised more than triple that thanks to over 8,000 donations.
Pieper Lewis, 17, was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to the man’s family after pleading guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury in the slaying of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks.
Lewis was 15 when she was initially charged with first-degree murder, after stabbing Brooks more than 30 times in his Des Moines, Iowa apartment in June 2020.
Lewis’ allegations of sexual assault and trafficking were never disputed, but prosecutors argued that Brooks was asleep at the time he the fatal stabbing.
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Iowa law intended to provide justice to victims’ families, hence the hefty fine.
“This court is presented with no other option,” the sentencing judge said.
So, Lewis’ former math teacher, Leland Schipper, started a GoFundMe page to help her pay the $150,000 owed to Brooks’ family.
“Remove financial barriers for Pieper in pursuing college/university or starting her own business,” Schipper wrote. “Give Pieper the financial capacity to explore ways to help other young victims of sex crimes.”
The initial goal of raising $200,000 for Pieper was passed within hours.
As of publication time, the GoFundMe has reached nearly $500,000.
“Pieper does not owe that man’s family justice. Pieper does not deserve to be (financially) burdened for the rest of her life because the state of Iowa wrote a law that fails to give judges any discretion as to how it is applied,” Schipper continued on the fundraising page.
“This law doesn’t make sense in many cases, but in this case, it’s morally unjustifiable. A child who was raped, under no circumstances, should owe the rapist’s family money.”
The funds raised will be used to pay off Lewis’ restitution, as well as additional $4,000 in costs to the state, and help her go to school.
“Our system is broken. It will take decades of advocacy and electing people committed to rethinking and reimagining our criminal justice system, especially our juvenile one, to fix the system,” Schipper added. “In the meantime, Pieper needs us now.”
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