MADISON, Wis. ? The Wisconsin office that regulates attorney conduct asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to suspend a former prosecutor's law license for trying to spark an affair with a domestic abuse victim through a barrage of racy text messages and allegedly making sexual remarks to a number of other women.
The Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a complaint with the court alleging former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz violated multiple attorney conduct rules. The office recommended the justices suspend his law license for six months.
Kratz resigned in October 2010 after The Associated Press reported that he sent 30 texts over three days to a then-25-year-old domestic abuse victim in 2009. The Republican district attorney was prosecuting the woman's ex-boyfriend at the time.
Kratz, then 50, called the woman a "tall, young, hot nymph," told her he wanted her to "be so hot" and touted himself as "the prize" with a $350,000 house.
He has since set up a private practice that handles criminal defense, drunken driving, divorce and injury cases, according to the firm's website. Kratz didn't respond to an email or phone message left Wednesday at his office, and his attorney, Robert Bellin, also didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The woman went to Kaukauna police, who forwarded the allegations to the state Justice Department. That agency concluded Kratz committed no criminal wrongdoing, but urged him to get someone else to prosecute the woman's case and recommended he step down as chairman of the crime victims board. Kratz complied with both recommendations.
He was ordered to self-report the text messages to the OLR, which declined to discipline him and closed its case against him in March 2010. The office concluded he acted inappropriately but didn't commit any ethical violations. The office reopened its investigation in September 2010, bowing to public pressure following the AP's stories.
More women started coming forward with allegations against Kratz. The state Justice Department again concluded Kratz didn't commit any criminal offenses, but forwarded the files to the OLR to supplement its new investigation.
Now the office says Kratz committed multiple violations of Supreme Court rules governing lawyers' conduct.
The office's complaint said the text messages to the domestic abuse victim violated rules against engaging in sexual harassment and offensive behavior.
The complaint noted that during that same period Kratz made lewd remarks about oral sex to a social worker worried about testifying in a parental rights case. He also told her he wanted to go to Las Vegas and have large-chested women serve him drinks.
The complaint went on to say Kratz made comments to another social worker about a court reporter's breasts.
The complaint noted, too, that a woman Kratz prosecuted for theft in 2006 accused him of sexually assaulting her at her apartment in late 2009. Kratz insisted the sex was consensual, according to the complaint, but the OLR still said he engaged in offensive behavior and harassment based on sex.
Finally, the complaint said Kratz made sexual comments to a woman who wanted him to help her win a gubernatorial pardon for a drug conviction he had prosecuted. During a meeting in his office he asked the woman about sexual scenarios and followed up with text messages asking the woman to impress him.
Kratz has 20 days to file a formal response with the OLR. The Supreme Court will appoint a referee to preside over the case, hold a hearing if necessary and issue a report to the justices with a recommendation on discipline. The justices will ultimately decide what misconduct, if any, took place and decide what punishment to impose.
The 2009 domestic abuse victim has filed a civil lawsuit against Kratz in federal court alleging sexual harassment. That case is still pending. The woman's attorney, Michael Fox, said he hadn't seen the OLR's complaint.
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