Iowa sex trafficking victim Pieper Lewis in jail, charged with escape
DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa sex trafficking victim who killed her rapist was booked into the Polk County Jail Tuesday and charged Wednesday with escaping from the women's center where she was serving probation, a spokesperson for the Polk County Sheriff's Office confirmed.
Pieper Lewis, now 18, left the Fresh Start Women's Center at about 6:19 a.m. Friday. On Tuesday at 2:20 p.m., Lewis was booked into the Polk County Jail, said Polk County Sheriff's Lt. Ryan Evans. She was charged Wednesday morning with escape, a serious misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of $2,560.
Iowa Department of Corrections spokesperson Nick Crawford said that Lewis was located and arrested Tuesday in Des Moines.
"We would like to thank law enforcement and members of Iowa’s 5th Judicial District for their efforts to safely bring Ms. Lewis back into custody," Crawford said in a statement.
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A preliminary hearing in Lewis' misdemeanor escape case is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 8 a.m.. A probation revocation hearing in her homicide case is scheduled at 9 a.m. the same day.
Lewis had pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and willful injury after killing Zachary Brooks, a 37-year-old father of three, in June 2020. She said Brooks had sexually assaulted her multiple times.
In September, Polk County Judge David M. Porter gave Lewis a deferred judgment and ordered her to spend five years on probation at the Fresh Start Women's Center in Des Moines. Lewis had faced up to 20 years in prison before her sentencing.
According to a probation violation report, on Friday, someone opened a door at Fresh Start, setting off an alarm and alerting a residential officer on duty. The officer then saw Lewis exiting the building, the report said. The report also says Lewis' GPS monitor was cut off at some point on Friday.
A warrant was issued for Lewis' arrest. The probation report asked for her probation to be revoked and for her original sentence to be imposed.
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