To recommend a sentence of time served to the judge would be an act of courage and grace. No public purpose is served by incarcerating Kizer any longer.
Chrystul Kizer will be sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to reckless homicide in the death of her pimp, Randy Volar. She was 16 when Volar first met her through Backpage.com, a site that has been shut down for the sex trafficking of women and girls. Volar was twice her age. The case is extraordinary for many reasons, including that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that Kizer can use a defense at trial that could excuse her for crimes committed that are a direct result of trafficking.
The ruling signifies a new understanding of the trauma associated with being a victim of sex trafficking, and changes the valence of this case. Instead of seeing Kizer as simply a cold-blooded criminal, it requires that the court take into consideration how her victimization at such a young age led her to the act.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court said, “Unlike many crimes, which occur at discrete points in time, human trafficking can trap victims in a cycle of seemingly inescapable abuse that can continue for months or even years.” Kizer's young life was rife with abuse; she went from being a gifted violin player to an impoverished sophomore in high school who needed money for school supplies.
DA should use discretion to show seriousness of human trafficking
And now she stands to be sentenced. Given the extremely compelling facts of this case, the most just sentence for her is to consider her sentence as time served. The Kenosha County District Attorney, Michael Graveley, can use his prosecutorial discretion to recommend and the judge to sentence her to time served. He has succeeded in securing a guilty plea; recommending time served will show that the State takes seriously the crime of sex trafficking.
“The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America,” said Robert Jackson, the Attorney General of the United States in 1940. Prosecutorial discretion is a bedrock value of the American justice system. District Attorney Michael Gravely has the discretion to show some grace to Kizer.
Here's why Kizer’s sentence should be time served. From the time she met Volar when she was 16, she was psychologically imprisoned by him through threats, promises, and sexual exploitation. After his death, she was imprisoned by the State, and has endured six more years of hell and punishment for an act that arguably could have been avoided if police had brought charges against Volar for child sexual exploitation when they could have.
Kenosha authorities knew about sex trafficking ring
The Kenosha Police Department had extensive evidence that Volar was operating a child sex trafficking ring at the time of his death. A 15-year-old girl had called 911 for help after fleeing Volar’s house, and was found wandering the street drugged and half-naked on a February night. Police searched Volar’s house ten days later and seized a mountain of evidence, including videos of clearly underaged girls, home videos of Volar sexually assaulting them, bikini bottoms, underwear, and women’s pajamas.
Moreover, there were videos where Volar instructed the girls on performing sexual acts in preparation for them to be sold into prostitution. Kizer was identified as one of the girls in the videos. Despite all this evidence, the police arrested Volar but he was released the same day and no bail was posted. In fact, no case was entered into the system.
The day of Volar’s death, his bank alerted Kenosha police of suspicious financial activity that triggered an alarm for potential trafficking activity. Volar had around $800,000 in his account that was in cryptocurrency, and transactions involving $1.5 million. Yet as far as the public knows, no investigation of this activity has taken place. Although the evidentiary trail might be cold at this point, the photos, videos, computer evidence and bank transactions may lead to other members of the trafficking ring. Bringing these predators to justice would be a great victory for Wisconsin.
Graveley already has won the case; he has secured a guilty plea. To recommend a sentence of time served to the judge would be an act of courage and grace. No public purpose is served by incarcerating Kizer any longer. She does not pose any threat to society. Instead, the state should offer her resources and support to help her reintegrate into society and recover from this horrific tragedy; one for which she has paid dearly in her short life.
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| Diane L. Rosenfeld Contributed By Diane L. Rosenfeld |
Diane L. Rosenfeld is the director of the Gender Violence Program at Harvard Law School and author of the book The Bonobo Sisterhood: Revolution Through Female Alliance.
Sex crimes against children are regularly ignored in Wisconsin. I know, I was the victim of one. The only possible explanation is that the "authorities" are riddled with sex crime perpetrators themselves. Otherwise, why protect these predators? Swine run our government. Pigs who get off on seeing babies made into sex objects. The people who "represent" you are pedophiles who enjoy molesting your children.
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