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Judge orders continued probation for teen sex trafficking victim

DES MOINES, Iowa — A teenage sex trafficking victim who fatally stabbed the man she accused of abusing her was resentenced Wednesday to probation, telling an Iowa judge that she now has a support system to help keep her on track.

Prosecutors agreed that Pieper Lewis should continue her probation rather than be incarcerated. Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham told the judge that her office “sees her as a human being,” that she is vulnerable to revictimization and that there is low risk she will commit more violence.

Lewis, now 18, had faced a 20-year prison sentence for the June 2020 fatal stabbing of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks, who Lewis said she was trafficked to against her will and forced to have sex with multiple times at age 15. She pleaded guilty in September to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury and was sentenced to probation.

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