WHAT A HEEL: DA Sexts Domestic Abuse Defendant’s Girlfriend
Minutes after Calumet County (WI) District Attorney Kenneth Kratz interviewed college student and part-time preschool teacher Stephanie Van Groll in his office about prosecuting her ex-boyfriend, Shannon Konitzer, for nearly choking her to death, she received a text from Kratz: “I wish you weren't one of this office's clients. You'd be a cool person to know!"
Over the next three days, he texted her 30 times ("Are you the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA ... the riskier the better?") and when he crossed the line into sexting ("I would not expect you to be the other woman. I would want you to be so hot and treat me so well that you'd be THE woman! R U that good?" and "I'm serious! I'm the atty. I have the $350,000 house. I have the 6-figure career. You may be the tall, young, hot nymph, but I am the prize!"), she went to the police, reports The Associated Press:
Van Groll told police in Kaukauna, Wis., where she lived, that she felt pressured to have a relationship with Kratz or he would drop charges against her ex-boyfriend.
Kratz said he "immediately removed himself" from the prosecution after learning about the complaint, and the state Department of Justice took over. Kratz said he resigned from the crime victims board, which he helped create, after more than a decade as chair as a "self-imposed sanction." He and his wife filed for divorce last December. …
Domestic violence experts called Kratz's text messages disturbing and unethical for several reasons, including the power differential between a prosecutor and a younger abuse victim.
After an assistant state attorney general took over the case against Konitzer, he was convicted on one felony count of strangulation. Kratz and his wife filed for divorce last December.
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