An Oklahoma teenager accused of sexually assaulting and strangling two high school girls had his criminal case dismissed after completing a youthful-offender rehabilitation program, avoiding any prison time, according to court records.
Jesse Mack Butler was 17 when Payne County prosecutors charged him as an adult in March 2025, filing 10 felony counts connected to alleged assaults involving two girls he had previously dated.
The original charges included two counts of attempted first-degree rape, three counts of rape by instrumentation, sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy, two counts of domestic assault and battery by strangulation, and one count of domestic assault and battery. Prosecutors later filed an additional count, accusing Butler of violating a protective order.
Jesse Butler pictured in a baseball uniform before the criminal allegations came to light. (Risin Baseball)
Butler’s defense team sought to have him certified as a youthful offender, or alternatively handled in juvenile court. The judge rejected the request for juvenile treatment but granted youthful-offender status after an agreement was reached between prosecutors and the defense.
On Aug. 25, 2025, Butler entered no-contest pleas to all 11 counts. The judge determined that the pleas were made knowingly and voluntarily and that the case had a factual basis, according to a court docket reviewed by News Outlet.
Although the court imposed sentences of up to 10 years on several of the counts, Butler was not sent to prison. Instead, he was placed under supervision by the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs.
Those sentences remained pending while Butler worked through a court-approved rehabilitation plan. Records from review hearings in December 2025 and April 2026 stated that he continued to comply with the requirements of that plan.
A protester raises a sign reading “Hold Jesse Responsible” during a demonstration outside the courthouse in Stillwater, Okla., on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Nathan J. Fish/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
At his final review hearing on Aug. 3, prosecutors announced that they would not seek to transfer him into the custody or supervision of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
The court’s jurisdiction expired when Butler turned 19 at midnight on Aug. 4, causing the case to be dismissed by operation of law.
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The final hearing turned contentious when defense attorney Derek Chance, according to newly elected Payne and Logan County District Attorney Jeremiah Gregory, said that he suggested Butler was innocent and was victimized by the case.
“Today’s hearing included disingenuous assertions from the defense regarding the defendant’s innocence, that he was the victim in this matter, and that the victim’s assertions were false had no bearing. The defense portrayed that somehow the perpetrator suffered more than these victims. What was said was insincere, untruthful, and affront to these victims and what they have endured,” Gregory said in a statement.
“Nothing has made my blood boil more,” he said.
Officers move in to arrest Jesse Butler as his mother looks on. (Stillwater Police Department)
Gregory said Oklahoma cannot prosecute Butler again because of constitutional protections against double jeopardy.
He announced that his office would instead refer the matter to the appropriate federal agency for prosecutorial review.
“I cannot undo what has already been done,” Gregory said, “but I can — and will — continue to stand as a strong voice for all victims of violent crime.”
Demonstrators gather to protest the Jesse Butler case outcome outside Payne County Courthouse in Stillwater, Okla., on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Nathan J. Fish/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
No federal charges have been announced.
News Outlet reached out to the Payne and Logan County District Attorney’s Office, the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs, Butler’s attorney and other attorneys connected to the case for additional comment.
