'I Am the Prize' Ex-DA Ken Kratz Takes Plea in Attorney Ethics Case re His Treatment of Women
A former Wisconsin district attorney who has said he already paid a steep price for his behavior is taking a plea in a legal ethics case brought over his claimed sexual harassment of multiple women.
Kenneth Kratz announced Friday that he has reached an agreement with the Office of Lawyer Regulation to plead no contest to three counts that allege he sent what amounted to sexually harassing text messages to a domestic abuse victim, as well as three counts concerning comments he made to social workers, the Associated Press reports.
In exchange, the OLR will drop other ethics charges which prosecutor Tom Basting said he could not have proved by the requisite “clear and convincing” standard.
“I’m doing everything within my power to put this ordeal behind me,” Kratz said said in a written statement.
Press reports last year detailed the sexually suggestive text messages that Kratz sent the domestic abuse victim. One of them read: “Are you the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA … the riskier the better?” Another tried to convince the woman that he was something of a catch. “I’m the attorney,” the message read. “I have the $350,000 house. I have the six-figure career. You may be the tall, young, hot nymph, but I am the prize.”
At a hearing on Tuesday, the OLR is expected to seek a six-month suspension of the ex-Calumet County DA’s law license, and Kratz is expected to ask for lesser punishment.
The Appleton Post-Crescent also has a story.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Federal Judge OKs Crime Victim’s Suit Against ‘I Am the Prize’ DA Who Sent Her Racy Text Messages”
ABAJournal.com: “Former DA Calls Ethics Case re His Treatment of Women Unfair, Cites Loss of Job, Home and Bankruptcy”
