When Yvonne Sweeney’s daughter brought her first boyfriend home last year, the family couldn’t have imagined the nightmare that would follow.
“He was wonderful, he was so nice,” said Sweeney. “He brought her flowers, her favorite tea. He took her to the country club, golfing, to play pickleball. He went to church with us.”
Then 16-year-old Jesse Mack Butler, whose father is a former football director at Oklahoma State University, seemed like a dream come true from a great family. But as the summer progressed, Sweeney noticed her daughter, referred to as K.S. in court documents, began withdrawing from the relationship without explanation.
“She would start making more plans with friends and spending less time with him,” Sweeney said. “I noticed things were a little weird, but I didn’t know what. We had no idea. Nothing was happening in front of our eyes.”
Months later, a detective told Sweeney the details of credible sexual assault allegations K.S. leveled against Butler at school, including that Butler raped K.S. after he recorded strangling her to unconsciousness. K.S. was too ashamed to tell her mother, but reported the attack at school along with another young woman in the hope of protecting others.
“It’s been really hard for us as parents,” Sweeney said.
Even after the allegations, Stillwater High School kept K.S. and Butler in the same class for two weeks, an oversight Sweeney said she believed was influenced by the status of Butler’s father.
Butler, whose attorney did not respond to an inquiry from Oklahoma Watch, was subsequently charged with nine felonies against K.S. and the other young woman, L.S., who reported being choked so severely by Butler that her doctor told her she was lucky to be alive.
Butler was handed a 78-year prison term that would’ve boiled down to a decade behind bars if served concurrently, but a deal struck between the prosecution and defense will see him completing counseling instead, a move that has left many in Stillwater scratching their heads and questioning what it means for a community where justice appears to depend on who you know.
Awareness has been fueled by true crime devotees like TikToker Justin Shepherd, who made a series of posts about Butler. In one that’s drawn more than half a million views, Shepherd incorrectly said the teenager admitted guilt in court. Commenters have routinely called for retribution.
“The prosecutor, defense attorney and judge need to be charged,” wrote user unbothered.lma on Instagram.
On Monday, after the Payne County Courthouse that was built in 1917 closed for a reported plumbing issue, Shepherd speculated there was more to the story because L.S. had a protective order hearing scheduled.
“As always, make sure you’re following for updates on this story, and drop your thoughts in the comments,” Shepherd said as he signed off. “Let me know if you think this is just bad coincidence or if you’re not buying it at all.”
Butler’s court case began in March and was led by Assistant District Attorney Debra Vincent, who, according to the families of both victims, planned to prosecute Butler to the fullest extent of the law and would not deal with him unless he pleaded guilty. Neither family understood why Vincent eventually began pushing for Butler to be designated as a youthful offender, a hybrid status that treats defendants between 15 and 17 years old more seriously than juveniles but still offers expungement or record sealing not routinely available to adults.
“We were completely against the youthful offender status from the beginning,” said Amber Selvey, the mother of L.S.
“I was sobbing, I was begging her not to do this deal,” Yvonne Sweeney said.
Sweeney said Vincent reasoned that Butler didn’t have a previous criminal record, a claim the families rejected because Butler already had more than one accuser.
Nevertheless, Butler was certified as a youthful offender in July with approval from Special Judge Susan Worthington, even as another charge related to violating a protective order held by L.S. was added to his list the next month. Butler subsequently pleaded no contest to 11 counts and was sentenced to the 78 years, though a further deal was in the offing.
The details of Butler’s treatment plan logged into court records in September are sealed and Payne County District Attorney Laura Thomas, an alumna of OSU whose LinkedIn bio says she believes an aggressive juvenile division “is our first line of influence and defense in the lives of children in crisis,” didn’t agree to an interview request from Oklahoma Watch, but the office sent a statement defending its actions.
While nonfatal strangulation is considered to be a major red flag for future violence in adults, studies show recidivism rates for juvenile sex offenders are relatively low, with findings from 5% to 13% depending on the study. Landmark studies conducted in 2000 and 2010, respectively, concluded that 5% of juveniles were charged with another sexually related crime within 10 years and 9% within 20 years. That’s significantly lower than the recidivism rate for juveniles convicted of other crimes, which the studies found to be as high as 57%.
Data collected by Zipdo, published May 30, showed recidivism rates as high as 13%, but noted that specialized treatment programs lowered the rate.
That was also a key finding in a U.S. Department of Justice report, which pointed out that the justice system’s treatment of juvenile sex offenders has shifted over the past 50 years.
“For many years, treatment for juveniles was largely based on models used with adult sexual offenders,” the report reads. “However, as knowledge about the developmental, motivational and behavioral differences between juvenile and adult sexual offenders has increased, therapeutic interventions for juveniles have become more responsive to the diversity of sexually abusive behaviors and the specific offending-related factors found among adolescents and children.”
That suggests the court’s handling of Butler’s case is in line with current juvenile justice philosophy and practice, though research has found violent defendants with more than one victim need multi-pronged therapy to significantly lower their risk of reoffending. Thomas’ statement didn’t offer details on Butler’s required treatment but emphasized the need to spare further trauma.
“The ultimate resolution of the case, reached without either victim having to testify or face cross-examination in a contested proceeding, included the accused agreeing not to challenge any of the allegations,” the statement said.
However, each of the victims’ mothers told Oklahoma Watch their daughters were willing to testify.
“The girls were brave,” Selvey said. “They found their voices and were ready to stand up, ready to face it all and tell their stories. But just when they were finally starting to take their power back, it was ripped away from them.”
Butler’s case has received widespread attention online, though Yvonne Sweeney said the family is fearful another woman will be hurt.
“It seems inevitable,” Sweeney said. “We are hoping and praying that is not the case.”
Elizabeth Caldwell is a Tulsa-based journalist and contributor to Oklahoma Watch.
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