Iowa sex trafficking victim who killed alleged perpetrator wanted by authorities

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa teenage sex trafficking victim convicted of fatally stabbing a man she accused of abusing her has absconded from her probation, authorities said in court documents.

The Iowa Department of Corrections issued a statewide arrest warrant for Pieper Lewis this month after learning she had been removed from a treatment center in Atlanta and then failed to show up for parole meetings.

19-year-old Lewis faced a 20-year prison sentence for the fatal knife attack on Zachary Brooks in June 2020. Lewis said she was taken against her will to Brooks, 37, and forced to have sex with him several times when she was 15.

Lewis pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and intentional bodily harm in September 2022 and was sentenced to probation. After she later admitted violating the terms of her probation, a judge re-sentenced her to probation but noted, “You asked for a second chance. You don’t get a third.”

Lewis was transferred to a residential program in Atlanta that helps victims of sexual exploitation in November 2023. She was accused of repeatedly violating the center’s rules and was asked to leave the center in March, according to the warrant requested. She then met with probation officers and was equipped with a GPS monitor, but did not attend the meetings and allowed the monitor’s battery to die, the warrant requested states.

Iowa Corrections officials wrote in court documents that Lewis’ whereabouts have not been known since April 6. In March, a judge allowed Lewis’ attorneys in Iowa to withdraw from their case.

The Associated Press does not typically identify victims of sexual assault by name, but Lewis agreed that her name has been used in reports about her case before.