“Sexting” D.A. to resign

Ken Kratz announces his plan to step down as Calumet County district attorney

Topics: Sexting, Broadsheet, Love and Sex,

** FILE **This March 2007 file photo shows Calumet County District Attorney Kenneth Kratz giving his closing argument in the Steven Avery trial in the courtroom in Chilton, Wis. Police say Kratz sent repeated text messages trying to spark an affair with a domestic abuse victim while he was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) (Credit: Morry Gash)

Top Republican prosecutor Ken Kratz is stepping down. It seems sending text message come-ons to a domestic abuse victim and a woman seeking his support in a drug charge pardon, and allegedly inviting a woman to an autopsy — for a date — has finally caught up to him. The Calumet County district attorney plans to resign by the beginning of October, when a removal hearing is scheduled, his attorney announced Monday. Basically, Kratz, who is already on indefinite paid medical leave, is taking off before Gov. Jim Doyle gets a chance to kick him out. Well played, sir, well played.

A question remains, however: Why did the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which knew about Kratz’s text messages to the domestic abuse victim, clear him without even an interview?

Tracy Clark-Flory

Tracy Clark-Flory is a staff writer at Salon. Follow @tracyclarkflory on Twitter and Facebook.

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