Iowa Teen Who Killed Her Rapist Ordered To Pay $150,000 to His Family

An Iowa teen, who pleaded guilty to killing the man sexually abusing her when she was 15, was ordered by an Iowa judge to pay restitution to her alleged rapist's family. Pieper Lewis must now pay $150,000 to the family of the man who allegedly raped her.

Polk County District Judge David Porter executed a deferred judgment on the case after Lewis pleaded guilty to killing 37-year-old Zachary Brooks. Lewis accused Brooks of repeatedly rapi ng her in 2020. She must now serve five years' worth of probation, as well as serve 200 hours of community service, in addition to her paying his family $150,000 in restitution.

CNN pointed out that Iowa law requires her to pay that amount in restitution. The law stated that anybody who kills another person must pay $150,000 in restitution.

Iowa Teen Talks About Her Sentence and Why She Killed Zachary Brooks

In her testimony, Lewis stated that Brooks repeatedly raped her multiple times. However, in the final one, she had enough and said that she was "overcome with rage." She said that without thinking, she grabbed a knife from his nightstand and began stabbing him. In her plea agreement, Lewis acknowledged that the multiple stab wounds she inflicted upon her rapist resulted in his death.

While in court, Lewis read a statement saying "My story can change things. My story has changed me.: She admitted that while she cannot undo the events that happened on that day, she wishes she could. She added that she feels for the victim's family, and wished she never did what she did.

Because of her guilty plea, she was only given a relatively light sentence apart from the mandatory restitution payment.

The BBC reported that police and prosecutors did not dispute her claims that she was sexually assaulted and trafficked when she was 15. However, the prosecution argued that Brooks was not an immediate threat at the time of his killing, as he was asleep.

GoFundMe Raises Money for Iowa Teen To Pay Restitution

After Judge Porter handed her punishment, Lewis's former teacher, Leland Schipper, organized the GoFundMe page in order to pay for the required restitution.

According to The Guardian, the GoFundMe page has raised more than enough money for Lewis, as it surpassed the required $150,000 by Wednesday.

Schipper stated that he is overjoyed as this would remove the burden from his former student. He added, "A child who was raped, under no circumstances, should owe the rapist's family money."

The teacher also stated that the money would be used first to pay off the $150,000 restitution. It will also be used to pay the additional $4,000 owed to the state. As for the rest, Schipper said it would be used to "remove financial barriers for Pieper in pursuing college/university or starting her own business [and] give Pieper the financial capacity to explore ways to help other young victims of sex crimes."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Iowa teen who killed her rapist ordered to pay $150,000 to man's family - PBS NewsHour