A Payne County judge threw out the criminal case against Jesse Mack Butler, a former high school baseball player convicted of raping two 16-year-old girls, after Oklahoma's youthful offender law left the court no authority to keep him under supervision past his 19th birthday.
Butler walked out of a Stillwater, Oklahoma, courtroom Monday a free man, his 10 felony convictions functionally erased less than a year after he was found guilty. The Office of Juvenile Affairs had already certified that he completed every requirement of a rehabilitation program that included weekly counseling, a curfew, daily check-ins, a social media ban, and 150 hours of community service. Under state law, that certification, combined with Butler turning 19 the very next day, stripped Payne County District Judge Michael Kulling of any legal basis to extend supervision. Kulling said he had "no choice" and that there was "no evidence of a violation."
The dismissal ends a case that, on paper, once carried up to 78 years behind bars. In practice, Butler served no prison time at all. His defense attorney, Derek Chance, secured youthful offender status, a designation that places a defendant between the juvenile and adult systems, and Butler switched his plea from not guilty to no contest. The result: seven 10-year terms, two 3-year terms, and two 1-year terms, all running concurrently for a nominal 10-year sentence that dissolved the moment the rehabilitation checklist was complete.
The charges Butler faced were not ambiguous. A police affidavit described a pattern of violent sexual assault against two girls Butler dated when he was 17 and they were 16. One victim, identified in court records as LS, told investigators Butler repeatedly raped or attempted to rape her and physically assaulted her whenever she refused sex. In one attack, court documents obtained by the Daily Mail show, Butler strangled LS until she lost consciousness. She later underwent neck surgery that left a two-inch scar. Butler threatened to kill her, her family, himself, or even his own family if she reported him.
The second victim, KS, described a similar ordeal. She said Butler was threatening and physically abusive, and that she complied with unwanted sex out of fear she would be harmed. KS told investigators Butler strangled her until she blacked out after she rejected him. He later strangled her again, and recorded the assault on video that police recovered from his cellphone.
Butler initially faced 10 felony counts: rape by instrumentation, attempted rape, domestic assault and battery by strangulation, sexual battery, and forcible oral sodomy. Every one of those charges dissolved Monday.
What happened inside the courtroom after the ruling drew fury from the district attorney and the victims' families. Chance called the dismissal a "big day" for his client and delivered a speech encouraging Butler not to look back, in front of one of the victims and her family. He maintained Butler's innocence and framed the no-contest plea as "risk management."
Newly sworn-in Payne County District Attorney Jeremiah Gregory responded with a written statement that left no room for interpretation. Gregory called Chance's speech a "disingenuous sack of garbage" packed with "egregious" and "inappropriate" assertions.
"The defense portrayed that somehow the perpetrator suffered more than these victims. What was said was insincere, untruthful, and an affront to these victims and what they have endured. Nothing has made my blood boil more."
Rachel Bussett, an attorney for one of the victims' families, pushed back directly on Chance's claim that video evidence showed the encounter was consensual. Questions about how courts handle cases involving the structure and accountability of the judiciary are not limited to Oklahoma, they arise whenever the public watches outcomes that seem disconnected from the severity of the crime.
Bussett told reporters:
"There was a video that was obtained in the course of this that shows Butler strangling one of the girls, and his attorney claims that the video shows that this was consensual. But the fact of the matter is that you cannot consent to strangulation."
Gregory acknowledged that the constitutional ban on double jeopardy "unambiguously prohibits" Oklahoma from prosecuting Butler a second time for the same offenses. But he pledged to refer the case to the appropriate federal agency for review and potential prosecution. Gregory vowed in his statement that he would "continue to stand as a strong voice for all victims of violent crime."
Whether that referral leads anywhere is an open question. Ed Blau, an Oklahoma defense attorney and former prosecutor, explained to News 9 that federal officials are typically reluctant to take over cases already resolved in state court and generally pursue them only when there is a significant federal interest.
"Legally it's over. The case will be sealed and expunged and determined that it really never had occurred for legal purposes."
Chance confirmed he plans to seek full expungement of Butler's record, a move he acknowledged would likely spark further controversy. If granted, the convictions would vanish from public view entirely. Oklahoma's legal framework, which critics have long argued tilts toward leniency for juvenile and youthful offenders, would have effectively allowed a defendant convicted of 10 felonies, including rape and strangulation, to emerge with a clean slate before his 20th birthday.
Bussett said the families understood the dismissal was coming. The law gave Judge Kulling no room to act otherwise.
"It doesn't matter what our personal opinions are or which side we're on. The court had no choice because there was no evidence of a violation."
She directed her frustration at the legislature, not the bench. Judges, she said, interpret the law, they do not write it. "If you don't like it, vote for new legislators." That message lands differently in a state where legal doctrines and judicial frameworks can leave victims with no recourse once procedural boxes are checked.
The families are not done. Bussett said the next step is civil litigation against Stillwater High School, the Butler family, and the City of Stillwater, unless other legal resolutions are reached. Butler comes from what S1 describes as "an influential sports family in Stillwater," and the case drew national attention in part because of the perception that his family's local standing may have influenced the outcome.
Protesters gathered outside the courthouse last year holding signs that read "Hold Jesse Responsible" and "Dirty Judge Define Justice!" One of the victims' mothers shared photos with the Daily Mail showing her daughter's neck injury immediately after surgery, a two-inch scar from an attack that nearly killed her.
Bussett said the families appreciate the public support they have received. She added that they are "hopeful moving forward about the new district attorney's administration that has come in and taken over, that victims will be treated better in the future." Gregory took office as the newly sworn-in Payne County DA, inheriting a case whose outcome was already locked in by the decisions of his predecessor.
Oklahoma is far from the only state grappling with how its legal system handles violent offenders who fall on the edge of the juvenile-adult divide. Across the country, state legislatures continue to shape laws that determine how much discretion courts retain in cases involving the most serious crimes committed by young defendants. The gap between the severity of the offense and the leniency of the available remedy is not a bug in Oklahoma's youthful offender statute, it is the statute working exactly as written.
Two girls were strangled, raped, and threatened with death. One needed surgery on her neck. The man convicted of doing it will have his record wiped clean. If Oklahoma's lawmakers are comfortable with that result, they should say so plainly, because the law they wrote just delivered it.