Due to an Iowa law, Polk County District Judge David M. Porter said he could not avoid requiring Pieper Lewis to pay $150,000 to the man’s family. More than 10,000 donors contributed, mostly in small amounts, raising the sum within a matter of days of the teen’s Tuesday sentencing hearing. Advertisement“I don’t believe that the Iowa Legislature intended to require a 15-year-old girl … to pay her rapist’s estate $150,000,” he said. After the hearing, Sheeley told told the local NBC affiliate that the judge’s ruling was overall a victory and that restitution was not Lewis’s most important concern. Lewis’s lawyers told the Register they want to look into the legality of using donated money to pay the restitution.

Source: Washington Post September 16, 2022 09:25 UTC