Donations poured in on Thursday for an online kitty, a young American sentenced to pay $150,000 to the relatives of a man accused of raping her on multiple occasions, in the context of forced prostitution, and killing her.
The case of Pieper Lewis, 17, has moved the US, where minors exploited by pimps are fighting to assert their status as victims in the courts.
“Under no circumstances should a raped child pay the family of her rapist.“, wrote one of his former professors, Leland Shipper, who opened the kitty.
According to her account and local media, the girl found herself on the street at the age of 15 and was picked up by a man who forced her to have sex with others.
In 2020, in Des Moines, north of the United States, he stabbed thirty men who had paid him to rape him.
Initially charged with murder, the girl pleaded guilty to manslaughter and faced up to 20 years in prison.
The police and the prosecutor did not deny the fact that the minor was sexually exploited. On Tuesday, a judge decided to grant him “A second chance“, retaining the suspended sentence.
If she abides by the conditions of her release for five years, her record will be vacated again. But under Iowa law, which requires victims’ relatives to be compensated, the magistrate ordered the victim’s family to pay $150,000.
Condemnation of a Law”Morally unjustifiable“Mr. Schipper later opened a kitty on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe.
Donations, often from $20 to $50, soon exceeded the set amount. As of Thursday afternoon, more than $386,000 had been raised.
In a postscript, the author notes that the additional funds will fund the young woman’s studies.
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