OCU Law Student Says Wisconsin D.A. Should Step Down for Inappropriate Actions

By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

MADISON, Wisconsin -- An Oklahoma City University law student said she also received racy text messages from a Wisconsin prosecutor now under fire for sending similar texts to a domestic abuse victim.

Thirty-one-year-old Maria Ruskiewicz, a Wisconsin native, met Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz in 2008. She asked him to help her get a pardon for a decade-old drug conviction and also sought career advice before she entered law school in Oklahoma.

She said Kratz agreed to support her and gave her his cell phone number. She said she later texted him to thank him for his help, and that's when the trouble started.

Ruskiewicz said Kratz's text message soon turned sexual, asking her how she would "please him between the sheets."

The OCU student said she didn't know how to respond because she did not want to alienate Kratz while she was seeking her pardon. She said she politely told him she wasn't interested and asked him to stop sending texts.

"He had his hand in my future. He had his hand in the success of my going to law school and the success of being able to apply as a non-felon in the future. He had authority over me and that could have been revoked by not sexually pleasing him and it scared me," Ruskiewicz said.

The messages stopped for a couple of months but started again as Ruskiewicz started law school at OCU. Ruskiewicz said she was so upset she met with Deborah Felice, the associate dean for students at the law school, to ask her advice.

"She said she was very upset because she was pursuing a pardon and the D.A. she was working with was sending her these text messages that were basically stalking her," Felice said.

Felice and Ruskiewicz met with OCU's top lawyer to discuss the case. They decided the best cause of action was to ignore Kratz and hope the messages eventually stopped, which is what happened.

"He is just some jerk lawyer that doesn't need to be in her life as she's starting law school," Felice said.

Ruskiewicz said she came forward now because of the other accusations against Kratz.

"The reason why I'm coming forward is he abuses his power, not only with women, but with women in certain situations who are extremely vulnerable to his authority," Ruskiewicz said.

Kratz admitted to sending 30 racy text messages in three days last year to a domestic abuse victim while he was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend. One message asked the woman if she was "the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA." Another message called her a "tall, young, hot, nymph."

A third woman said last week that Kratz invited her to an autopsy after they went to dinner "provided I act as his girlfriend and wear high heels and a skirt."

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has blasted Kratz's behavior, calling it an "unimaginable" abuse of power. Doyle said he's considering removing Kratz from office and hopes to make that decision within the next month.

Kratz announced earlier this week he was going on medical leave indefinitely but rejected calls to resign from lawmakers, peers and victims' advocates.

Ruskiewicz did receive her pardon. She will graduate from OCU law school next May.