Chrystul Kizer Released

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

There’s good news to report surrounding the case of Chrystul Kizer, the Wisconsin sex-trafficking victim whose case has been compared to Cyntoia Brown-Long. As previously reported Kizer is in jail for killing her abuser, a white man named Randy Volar III, back in May of 2018.

Chrystul told The Washington Post that Volar III, a 34-year-old white man knew she was just 16 when he sexually abused her for over a year while providing her with money. She also said he trafficked her to multiple men and filmed sexual encounters.

Advocates are adamant that Chrystul, now 19, was acting in self-defense.

CNN reports that Chrystul has been released on a $400K bond paid by The Chicago Community Bond Fund, the Milwaukee Freedom Fund, Survived & Punished, and the Chrystul Kizer Defense Committee.

“We are elated to know Chrystul will no longer be locked in a cage simply for wanting to live,” the organizations said in a statement. “No one should be incarcerated for surviving violence against them.

“Far too often, survivors of violence — especially Black women and girls — are punished for defending themselves,” the statement said. “Chrystul’s case highlights the urgent need for the criminal legal system to stop prosecuting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.”

A national bail fund for survivors of domestic and sexual violence will be established when Kizer’s case ends with the bond money, the organizations added.

We’re very, very, glad to hear that Chrystul’s home.