Public raises half a million dollars for girl, 17, who was ordered to pay $150,000 to family of suspected rapist

Pieper Lewis, 17, was ordered to pay $150,000 to the family of her suspected rapist, 37-year-old Zachary Brook

More than $500,000 has been raised to help a 17-year-old trafficking victim pay $150,000 to the family of one of her abusers, whom she stabbed to death in 2020.

Two years ago, then-15-year-old Pieper Lewis ran away from an abusive household and ended up living in the streets of a dangerous apartment complex in Des Moines with a man who sold her for drugs, the Associated Press reported.

She was swept into a trafficking ring and only escaped it — for another nightmare — after she was taken into custody for stabbing one of her suspected rapists, 37-year-old Zachary Brook, more than 30 times. Last week, an Iowa judge sentenced Piper to five years of supervised probation on charges of manslaughter and willful injury, recognising the two years she has already spent in a juvenile facility and the violence she was subjected to.

However, she was ordered to pay $150,000 to Brook’s family under an Iowa state law that does not offer exemption for victims of sexual abuse, sparking calls for changes in the statute from people and leaders in the community who have branded the ruling unfair.

In the aftermath of the sentencing, a GoFundMe created last year by Ms Lewis’s former math teacher, Leland Schipper, became flooded with donations. The money ordered by the court in restitution was raised within a day and the GoFundMe has been so successful that more than $550,000 have been raised by thousands of donors as of Monday evening — money that Piper will use to cover her legal fees and pursue her education, Mr Schipper has said.

The money ordered by the court in restitution was raised within a day and the fundraiser has been so successful that more than $550,000 have been raised by thousands of donors as of Monday evening (GoFundMe)

“This law is intended to provide justice to families who lost their loved ones. However, in the case of Pieper, it will require her to pay 150,000 dollars to the family of a man who purchased Pieper’s fifteen-year-old body from a sex trafficker, gave her drugs and alcohol, and then raped her repeatedly,” Mr Schipper wrote in the description of the GoFundMe.

Mr Schipper, a middle school teacher at Des Moines Public Schools, had initially created the GoFundMe to cover legal costs for Ms Lewis, he told local news station WHO13. But after she was ordered to pay Brook’s family restitution, donations began to pour in.

“She’s just a joyous, like super happy kid,” he said. “Well-liked by her friends. Well-liked by her teachers.”

“Pieper has five years of probation ahead of her; five years that she will be required to be nearly perfect to avoid facing 20 years in prison. Her path to true freedom will not be easy, and she is still a teenager that has experienced a lot of trauma.”

Ms Lewis will spend her probation at Fresh Start Women’s Center in Des Moines, where she will be monitored through a GPS bracelet

During her sentencing last week, Ms Lewis reiterated that she was forced to have sex with Brook by a then-28-year-old man who she lived with, the AP reported. The younger man allegedly told her she couldn’t live with him for free and created a dating profile that he used to arrange sexual encounters between Ms Lewis and other men.

He allegedly held a knife against her throat to force her to see Brook for a second time, Ms Lewis said. She then stabbed Brook while he was sleeping, prosecutors said.

Ms Lewis was initially charged with first-degree murder because the prosecution argued that she killed Brook while he didn’t pose an immediate threat to her, as he was sleeping. According to Mr Schipper, she pleaded guilty to lesser charges of manslaughter and willful injury to avoid a lengthy and risky trial that could have sent her to jail for a long time.

Ms Lewis will spend her probation at Fresh Start Women’s Center in Des Moines, where she will be monitored through a GPS bracelet. During her time at the juvenile facility, she obtained her GED and she now wants to become a fashion designer, according to the AP.