Overview
- Jesse Butler, 18, pleaded no contest in August to 11 counts including first-degree rape, strangulation and rape by instrumentation after being reclassified from adult to youthful offender.
- Judge Susan C. Worthington approved a plan that imposes 150 hours of service and therapy instead of incarceration, following a plea agreement between prosecutors and the defense.
- Demonstrators gathered at the Payne County Courthouse this week, with critics demanding accountability and some calling for District Attorney Laura Thomas to resign.
- The district attorney’s office says Butler must follow a curfew, avoid social media, check in daily and attend weekly counseling with a sex‑offender treatment specialist through age 19, with a possible 10-year adult sentence if he violates the plan.
- Police reports cite video of Butler choking a victim and statements that one girl was choked unconscious; Butler is due back in court on December 8, and protesters also claimed he will not have to register as a sex offender.