A doctor who examined one of Jesse Butler's victims noted she would have died if the strangulation had lasted seconds longer. That detail is in the police report. Butler just walked free without spending a single night in jail.

Butler, a Stillwater, Oklahoma teen and son of a former Oklahoma State University football operations director, faced ten rape counts tied to two victims. Investigators described a pattern that included repeated rape and strangulation of a girlfriend who said she was attacked whenever she refused him. The police affidavit was explicit: she survived one incident by a margin of seconds.

From 78 Years to a Curfew

Butler was initially facing a potential 78-year sentence. After accepting a no contest plea, he was granted youthful offender status, shifting his case from adult criminal court into a juvenile oversight framework. He was placed under the supervision of the Office of Juvenile Affairs until his nineteenth birthday.

His conditions included outpatient counseling, more than one hundred hours of community service, a social media ban, and a curfew. No incarceration. The plea was accepted in August, and sentencing followed in October.

Butler completed every required condition. He has been discharged from court supervision. The suspended prison sentence attached to his youthful offender agreement will not be served.

What the Victims Said

One victim, identified publicly as Kate, addressed Butler directly: "You didn't just strangle me with your hands — you strangled my voice, my joy, my ability to feel safe in my own body."

Her mother, Ivonne, did not soften her assessment of the outcome. "Community service and counseling doesn't equate to what he did to her — what he's taken from her," she said.

A Process the Families Say Left Them Out

The victims' attorney, Rachel Bussett, filed a motion alleging the former district attorney did not advise or confer with either victim or their families before entering plea negotiations, agreeing to the deal, or accepting the youthful offender certification. That allegation remains an open legal question — the judge ruled against the victims in the related Marsy's Law case, but the underlying claim about the process has not been resolved to the families' satisfaction.

The newly elected District Attorney has acknowledged he cannot retry Butler under double jeopardy protections, but has publicly committed to referring the case to federal prosecutors. Whether that referral leads to any further action remains unresolved.

What Comes Next for Butler's Record

Butler's attorney has stated the next step is filing a motion seeking full dismissal of the case and expungement of his record. If granted, the convictions tied to ten rape counts would be cleared entirely. That motion had not yet been filed or ruled on at the time of his discharge from supervision.

For Kate and her family, the legal process that was supposed to represent them ended before they knew it had begun. The case that could have carried a 78-year sentence closed with a curfew, a community service log, and now a potential clean record for the person who hurt her.