Calumet County, Wi., District Attorney Kenneth Kratz will resign, his lawyer said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Two weeks sago, it emerged that he had sent sexually suggestive text messages to a domestic violence victim. Kratz had resisted calls for his resignation from fellow district attorneys, state lawmakers, and victims’ advocates since admitting he had sent the text messages.
The pressure on Kratz to step down intensified in recent days, when at least four more women accused him of similar misconduct. Gov. Jim Doyle began the process to remove Kratz from office last week. Kratz’s lawyer, Robert Craanen, announced Kratz’s intention to resign during a hearing to determine a schedule for removal proceedings against the prosecutor. The removal process will continue until Doyle receives Kratz’s resignation letter. Craanen said the removal process was politically motivated and moving too fast, the Associated Press reports. “There was no way he could find a successful outcome in this.” Kratz is taking an indefinite medical leave of absence, enrolling in therapy for a “nonphysical illness.”