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Appleton --Disgraced former prosecutor Kenneth Kratz on Tuesday calmly told a referee hearing his professional ethics case — and the public — how he has come to terms with the sex addiction problem that led to his resignation, divorce, bankruptcy and national humiliation.

“I've never been happier in my life than now,” Kratz said during his hourlong testimony in a hotel conference room packed with news media. “I no longer live in shame or isolation and a double life.”

He said he's far ahead of the day in 2010 when he had a gun in his mouth.

“I've gotten one thing back — my self-respect. That's a pretty good place to start,” he said.

Kratz, 51, began the morning by pleading no contest to six counts of professional misconduct related to texts and comments he made to women in 2009. The incident came to light in the fall of 2010 when The Associated Press reported Kratz had tried to start a sexual relationship with a 25-year-old woman, the victim in a domestic violence case he was prosecuting.

The case quickly earned national attention, in part because Kratz, the elected DA of Calumet County, was also the chair of the state's crime victims' rights board and had played a key role in passage of the state's victims' rights law. He also had earned statewide attention for prosecuting Steven Avery in 2007 for the sexual assault and murder of a photographer.

Patti Seger, executive director the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said Tuesday's hearing was “a long time coming,” and that it appeared for months as if he would not be held professionally accountable.

“Kratz was sworn to protect the vulnerable,” Seger said in a prepared statement. “Instead, he caused victims in Calumet County and beyond to question their faith in the justice system.”

Tuesday's hearing will help the referee and the state Supreme Court in deciding what punishment Kratz deserves. He said he deserves punishment. Discipline could range from a public reprimand to suspension to revocation of his law license. A decision is not expected for months.

Kratz recounted his work as a leading victims' rights advocate in Wisconsin, how he volunteered hundreds of hours to work with the state board, and still has the pen former Gov. Tommy Thompson used to sign the state's current victims' rights law in 1997.

He said that he attends a 12-step program for people with compulsive sexuality disorder four times a week, and that there are six such groups just in the Fox Valley.

He said that prior treatment at an inpatient facility in Mississippi helped him learn he also suffered from narcissism, and that when he began taking Xanax, Ambien and Vicodin in 2009, when his marriage was breaking up, it allowed for his sex addiction problems to cross into his professional life for the first time.

“It was a recipe for apocalyptic bad decisions — which is exactly what happened,” he said.

Kratz said he did not want his admissions Tuesday to be seen as an excuse, and he recounted the many other public apologies and admissions from men in similar situations, from presidents to ministers to sports stars.

“It's the same for everyone,” he said. “Addiction is addiction is addiction.”

Earlier, Kratz called a paralegal and a victim-witness coordinator who worked under him at the seven-employee Calumet County prosecutor's office. They each described Kratz as a good boss, team oriented and inclusive, and particularly sensitive and tender in dealing with crime victims.

Michelle Moehn said the Avery trial seemed like a high point for Kratz, and that afterward, he “sort of mentally checked out from the job.”

A retired Calumet County sheriff's investigator also testified for Kratz. John Dedering said he found the allegations against Kratz astonishing, that he felt personally betrayed because Kratz was someone he really looked up to in law enforcement, and who brought more training and professionalism to the sheriff's department.

Within days of Kratz's racy texts to the domestic violence victim, she reported them to Kaukauna police. Kratz said he learned she had done so a couple of weeks later when he was contacted by the Department of Justice. Late in 2009, he reported himself to the Office of Lawyer Regulation, which initially found that he had not violated rules of professional conduct. Likewise, the DOJ found no criminal violation had occurred.

But then news of the incident became public in 2010, and Kratz resigned.

He testified Tuesday that an assistant attorney general threatened to tell the news media about the case in 2009, and that Kratz believes it was leaked in 2010.

In March 2011, Kratz opened a private practice in Kimberly. He testified Tuesday he did so because OLR officials had indicated they would not be seeking to suspend his license.

But last November, the OLR filed an 11-count complaint against Kratz that sought a six-month suspension. Kratz closed his private practice in January. He testified that he had had 71 clients.

He is being sued in federal court by the domestic violence victim he propositioned, a suit stayed after Kratz filed for bankruptcy this year.

Retired Oneida County Circuit Judge Robert Kinney, who served as referee Tuesday, will consider testimony as well as written briefs before making a recommendation to the Supreme Court, which has the final say on Kratz's discipline.

Madison attorney Thomas Basting is the OLR's prosecutor on the case.