In the case of Chrystul Kizer from Wisconsin, she earns her freedom

Recommending a sentence of time served to the judge would be an act of courage and grace. No public purpose is served by locking up Kizer.

Diane L. Rosenfeld
| Special to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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 on Backpage.com, a site shut down for sex trafficking women and girls. Volar was twice her age. The case is extraordinary for many reasons, including that the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Kizer can plead guilty at trial to a charge that could exonerate her from crimes directly related to human trafficking.

The ruling represents a new understanding of the trauma that accompanies being a victim of sex trafficking, and changes the valence of this case. Instead of viewing Kizer as a cold-blooded criminal, it requires the court to consider how her victimization at such a young age led her to commit the act.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court said, “Unlike many crimes, which occur at specific points in time, human trafficking can trap victims in a cycle of seemingly inescapable abuse that can last for months or even years.” Kizer’s young life was fraught with abuse; she went from a talented violinist to an impoverished high school sophomore in need of money for school supplies.

DA must use discretion to demonstrate seriousness of human trafficking

And now she is about to be sentenced. Given the extremely compelling facts of this case, the most just punishment for her is to treat her sentence as time served. Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley can use his discretion as a prosecutor to recommend and the judge to sentence her to the time she has served. He was able to secure a guilty plea; recommending time served will show that the state takes the crime of sex trafficking seriously.

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“The district attorney has more control over life, liberty and reputation than any other man in America,” said United States Attorney General Robert Jackson in 1940. District attorney discretion is a fundamental value of the American justice system. District Attorney Michael Gravely has the discretion to show Kizer some mercy.

This is why Kizer’s sentence should be time served. From the moment she met Volar at age 16, she was held psychologically captive by him through threats, promises, and sexual exploitation. After his death, she was jailed by the state and endured another six years of hell and punishment for an act that arguably could have been prevented if police had charged Volar with child sexual exploitation when they could have.

Authorities in Kenosha knew about sex trafficking network

Kenosha police had extensive evidence that Volar was running 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 home and was found drugged and half-naked in the street one night in February. Ten days later, police searched Volar’s home and seized a mountain of evidence, including videos of clearly underage girls, home movies of Volar sexually abusing them, and bikini bottoms, underwear and pajamas belonging to women.

In addition, there were videos of Volar instructing the girls on how to perform sexual acts in preparation for their sale into prostitution. Kizer was identified as one of the girls in the videos. Despite all this evidence, police arrested Volar, but he was released the same day and no bail was posted. No case was even entered into the system.

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On the day of Volar’s death, his bank alerted Kenosha police to suspicious financial activity that raised alarms about possible human trafficking. Volar had approximately $800,000 in his account in cryptocurrencies and transactions worth $1.5 million. But as far as the public knows, there has been no investigation into this activity. While the evidence may be cold at this point, the photos, videos, computer evidence, and bank transactions could lead to other members of the trafficking ring. Bringing these predators to justice would be a huge win for Wisconsin.

Graveley has already won the case; he has secured a guilty plea. Recommending a sentence equal to the time she has served to the judge would be an act of courage and grace. There is no public purpose served by locking Kizer up. She poses no threat to society. Instead, the state should provide her with 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.

Diane L. Rosenfeld iis the director of the Gender Violence Program at Harvard Law School and author of the book The Bonobo Sisterhood: Revolution through Female Alliance.