High School Rapist's Case Reignited with New Court Filing

The teen rapist who avoided [music]. prison, Jesse Butler, is now facing a. legal fight that could maybe change. everything. A major new motion has been. filed arguing that the victim's rights. [music] in this case were violated. There is demand that the controversial. plea deal essentially be thrown out. The. attorney behind that motion, who is. representing [music] a victim in this. case, Rachel Busett, joins us to break. down where this case could be headed. next. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by. Law on Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

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what makes this case so bizarre, what. makes this case so different, what has. enraged so many people about this case. is that after pleading no contest to. these very serious felony charges, he. only got youthful offender status, avoided prison, and got probation and. counseling. Now, the last episode we. did, we broke down the major motion that. was filed by one victim's attorney, Rachel Busett, and she is arguing that. her client's rights under Marcy's law.

were violated, that the victim here. wasn't properly consulted or heard. before that controversial deal was. struck. That attorney is going to come. on in a little bit, talk to us about. what happened here, what the arguments. are. She's going to walk us through the. procedural fight that's happening right. now, what the motion actually seeks to. do in court, her response to the DA's. defense of the process, how her client. is holding up. So, to understand what is. happening now, I just have to quickly. get you up to speed. All starts in. Stillwater, Oklahoma. You have a high.

school baseball player named Jesse. Butler. Two of his former girlfriends. came forward in 2024 alleging horrifying. abuse. You had one teen, LS, who claims. that after getting ice cream, Butler. drove her to a parking lot, tried to. rape her in his car. According to an. affidavit filed with the court, she. yelled no, pushed back, couldn't stop. him. When a bystander heard her screams, and interrupted, that's when he stopped. But then, when ostensibly taking her. back to her own car, he allegedly.

warned, "You're not going until I'm. finished." The other girl, Chaos, who. we're going to be talking about, says. that Butler strangled her until she. passed out, raped her, and told her he. wanted to choke her so he could film it. on his phone. Police say they later. found those images on his device. Both. girls reported him to their school in. September of 2024. One got an emergency. protective order, but she and her family. claimed Butler kept violating it. He. would end up facing a violation of that. protection order alongside his other.

serious felony charges. Arrest warrants. were issued in January and February. 2025. They weren't executed for weeks. and Butler was finally arrested on March. 4th. We have the body cam footage from. that day. It shows the moment detectives. arrived at his home. Take a look. >> Hello. Hello. Are you Jackie? Hi, Jackie. I'm Detective Bruce with the. Starter Police Department. Um, we're. here because we have a warrant for. Jesse's arrest. I assume you know that. already. Okay. Is he here? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> I told him not to answer the door till I. got home. He's scared of that. So,

>> so here's here's what's going to happen. Like, we're going to take him into. custody there. His bond is 25,000. >> Okay. >> Once he gets to the jail and we get him. booked in, well, I guess on the way to. the jail, I guess you could contact a. bondsman. >> Yeah. >> And or I mean, if you have 25 grand. lying around, you can do that. But, um, if you contact a bondsman, then they can. post his bond and he can get right out. today. >> Okay. >> So, um, and. >> what kind of time frame does that look. like? Just out of curiosity, like. midnight tonight or hour. >> Like you can contact a bondsman in like.

an hour and a half or something. >> Andy Baker, I'm sure y'all know Andy. So. >> she's the one that told me. >> It's a pretty quick process. We just. like have to get him booked in and then. once he's booked in. >> Um and just so you know, he is a. juvenile so he won't be like with any. adults like where. >> he can't be housed with any adults. >> Okay. Um, so there is a chance that he. may be moved over to Payne County, but. for right now, depending on how long it. takes you to get um get with her and get. bond right back. So.

>> then um then he'll probably just be at. our facility at the city of Still Water. Okay. >> And she can come over. >> How long is that? >> Um it just like we can only hold him for. six hours. >> Oh, okay. So if I get it done now, we're. good. He's not going to be moved. >> No. >> Okay, perfect. Okay. >> He shouldn't be. The only big hold up is. if we have somebody else in the jail. because we can't have them intermingle. Um like if they're booking somebody in, it could hold us up like maybe 15 20. minutes, something like that. But it's. not going to be a long. >> Okay. >> thing generally.

>> We're ready to obviously tell our story, too. >> Yeah. >> Yes, it's mom. Open the door. Give me your um wallet and phone and. stuff. though. Okay. >> You're what? >> They're in the closet. >> Well, okay, it's fine. It's not locked. or anything, is it? Okay. So, can you. tell him what you just told me or? >> Yeah. Um, so we're here. Um, we're. obviously going to place you under. arrest. There's a warrant for your. arrest. We're going to take you to the.

jail. Um, I told your mom that she can. contact a bondsman and um, you shouldn't. be very there very long. Um, but there. just is a process for paperwork and. stuff. Um, but right now you do have to. come with us and I do have to put you in. handcuffs. So turn around for me. >> You have to put in handcuffs. >> Transport somebody. >> You know we're going to win this. It's. okay.

>> Yeah. I'll get you out for me. All right. Stay. silent. Rick knows about this. Candy's. on this. Dad's on his way. We're coming. to get you. Okay. Stay strong. Okay. Say. your prayers. >> Okay. So, we will He's going to go right. to the city of Stillwater Jail. And if. you'll just contact her, then she she. does this all the time. She knows what. to do. >> Yep. >> Make sure she knows Stillwater Police. Department, not a county. >> Still Water Police Department on Lewis.

>> Yeah. >> Let them know that we're the ones that. picked him up. >> And when you say we are the. >> Still Water PD, >> Still Water PD. Okay. That way they. don't think he went like straight over. and over the county.

Pass it down. Spread your feet for me. rewinding his phone. >> What about his phone? So, um that's going to remain at the. police department as evidence. Um so, we'll hang on to it through the duration.

of whatever happens with that. >> Okay. Generally once the case is. adjudicated then we'll be able to. release it but we can't until it's it's. over with. >> Well normally. >> his phone cannot be released anyways. Yeah. >> stuff that's on it. >> Did he have an ID or anything? >> Okay. >> Yeah. And I actually have a copy of the. warrant. So I'll give that to you. >> I'll just take his ID with me. I'll give. it to the. >> I can get it out. A little shaky.

garage. 24 central. 24. >> 10:15. >> So my attorney told the police. >> Oh, my bad. >> that we would bring him in. >> So did you not get that message? >> I did and I called back and I never got. a call back from him. >> When did you call him? because he's. called you several times too. He said. >> I've only had one voicemail from him and.

I called him back after that. Um, sorry, I'm trying to get you a copy of this. warrant. Um, and I haven't received. anything from him. So, other than that. one phone call. >> and that was several months ago. Probably like. >> you didn't tell him you were doing this. today. >> Probably his the attorney. >> Yeah. >> No, no, there would be no reason for me. to tell him. >> Um, But he left you several messages about. Jesse.

>> Um he left me one message and I returned. his call and he didn't call me back. So. that I took that generally that's I. don't want my client to talk to you. So. when I return the message and then it's. not he doesn't make any effort to call. me back. That's kind of what I have to. go with. Okay. Oh, this is just a copy, but you can have that. Okay. So it has. the charges listed and the bond and the. case on there. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Okay. You're welcome. >> And again, he was charged as an adult.

initially with 11 felonies. Rape, attempted rape, strangulation. He was. facing up to 78 years in prison. But. over the summer, after a no contest plea. to the charges, the court granted him. youthful offender status. Just like. that, the potential 78 years in prison. vanished. He got probation, counseling, community service, no social media, a. restitution payment. If he fails, he. could face a 10-year sentence. If he. completes it, his record is basically.

sealed. Now, KS and her family say they. were blindsided. They were outraged. The. attorney here, Rachel Busett, representing KS, has filed a motion. arguing that the victim's rights here. were violated under Marcy's law, claiming they weren't properly. consulted. They are asking the court to. reconsider what happened here. That is. the fight that's happening right now and. we want to talk about it. To walk us. through all this, we are joined by. attorney Rachel Busett who is. representing uh KS and her family. Uh. thank you so much for taking the time.

Really really appreciate it. Um I I. first want to just start off with your. client KS her family. It is not a. shocker that they have been through a. lot this what is essentially an. unimaginable. ordeal. They're in the middle of this. legal issue, but they have been in the. spotlight for quite some time since all. the news of Jesse Butler uh broke. How. are they doing right now? What is their. state of mind right now as they go into. this? >> Well, I think they're just really in. shock about what happened. They're not.

happy. They're frustrated with working. with the system. They feel very not. heard and feel like at times they were. misled. Now, by the way, I just want to give our. viewers and listeners a heads up. I know. there's limited information you can talk. about since this is an ongoing case. So, if I, you know, if there's nothing you. can't answer, completely understand, but. legally speaking, where do we stand. right now? I did a whole other sidebar. uh on the motion, but now there's this. petition. Talk to our viewers and.

listeners about where uh the where it. currently sits. >> Sure. So, he has been sentenced under. the Youthful Offenders Act and pled no. contest. There has been at least one. review in December. After that, we filed. a motion for um to enforce the. constitutional rights of the victim and. to redo sentencing or reconsider the the. terms of the plea agreement because we. believe that their constitutional rights.

were violated under Marcy's law. And and. for those who don't know, and because I. just explained it, but I want to hear. from you. Um what is a brief summary of. why you believe that your client's. rights were violated, the victim's. rights were violated? This this idea of. there wasn't a proper notice of what was. going on. There was not a proper. explanation of what was going to happen. Perhaps there was misinformation um from. from a victim's perspective. So, if you.

could explain to us um what the mo the. the underlying allegations are. >> So, Marcy's Law is a crime victim's bill. of rights and it was passed into the. Oklahoma Constitution in 2018, supplemented by statutory definitions. and processes that are supposed to be. given to victims. Along the way, if you. read through the statement of facts and. procedural history in the case, you'll. see that there were a number of times. where my clients weren't given proper.

notice. They didn't follow simple. procedural aspects of what we're. supposed to do as lawyers. There were. other times where they were given. partial information or no information at. all or the information that they were. given was given in such a way that they. didn't have a meaningful time to process. it, work through it and understand it. So there are different things that. happened at different times. >> And is the goal for Jesse Butler to. ultimately be re-sentenced, for the. youthful offender status to be stripped.

away, for him to be sentenced as an. adult, for him to get prison time? Is. that something or is it at the very. least for your client, her family to be. heard, to just be heard in a courtroom? Um, what is the the outcome that you're. looking for? Um, at this point, >> we're looking for an outcome that holds. him accountable. And I know there are. going to people be people that say, "Well, this does hold him accountable as. a youthful offender." But the biggest. thing is he hasn't admitted what he's.

done. for the youthful offender act to. work the way that it's supposed to act. There has to be a taking of. responsibility and he hasn't taken any. responsibility here. So, we need some. sort of admission of of responsibility. at a minimum. >> Is there under the law, has there ever. been a situation this I I'll tell you. from my point of view, I haven't seen. anything like this in general. That's. why it's such a shocking case. But have. you ever seen anything where a victim's. rights were violated and the relief that.

was ultimately ordered by a court was. for the defendant, let's say, to be. reentenced for there to be uh an issue. where they do get uh a more serious. consequence. Have you ever seen anything. like that? >> I've not seen that in Oklahoma. I've. seen it in other states in the cases. that we cited in the motion. So I think. there is some authority for that in. other jurisdictions. I'm not aware of it. here. The only other situation that I am. personally aware of from personal. involvement is where a judge refused to.

accept a plea because my client and the. other individual who were involved who. were also sexual assault victims did not. approve of the plea and so the judge. rejected the plea. But not here in. Oklahoma where they've resentenced them. Is most of the onus in your perspective. on the DA's office or the judge here. both? Because the judge here has taken a. lot of heat. Okay. A lot of heat. What. in your perspective? Um, who is more.

culpable with regards to what happened. to Jesse Butler? >> First of all, there were two judges that. were involved. There was Judge. Worthington and there was Judge Cooling. And Judge Cooling is still on the case. Um, and then there's obviously the. district attorney's office. I'm not. going to really say who I think was more. culpable. I will say that I believe that. the system failed from beginning to end. So, who whoever that falls out on it, in. my opinion, it failed from beginning to.

end. Um, so if you go to the the paperwork. that was filed, um, you know, your. motion states that after you filed an. entry of appearance in April to assert. your client's Marcy's law rights, a. series of critical orders were filed. without your signature or clear. certificate of service to you. Uh, this. imparently includes the May 22nd order. delaying the preliminary hearing, the. June 12th order, striking the hearing. Um, from a victim's rights attorney's. perspective, what are the consequences.

of this? What why do you think something. like this happened? Um, and why is this. so important that you and your client do. be properly notified of what's going on? >> Sure. So, to be clear first, I wasn't. the original victim's rights attorney. that entered. The original attorney was. Jessica uh Goodwin, I believe, is her. last name. And it's important that it. happens because in the law, we're. required to give notice to do certain. procedural things every time a motion is.

filed. If the court takes action, they're required to do that as well. So. that we ensure that every party is aware. of what's happening. And that doesn't. matter whether it's a civil case or a. criminal case. That's a basic procedural. thing that we're taught from the time. you start practicing law. And the. failure to do that is key because you. can't be prepared if you don't know. what's happening and you can't appear if. you don't know that there's a court. date. So that started from the very. beginning of not giving her the proper.

notice of what was happening where she. had to go track down pleadings at the. courthouse because they weren't being. served on [clears throat] her and. because of the nature of the crime and. the age of the perpetrator. These. documents also were not available online. >> and and if correct me if I'm wrong, the. motion alleges that on August 25th, so. the day of the plea hearing, the family. was informed of the final terms, right? No contest, no incarceration in a room. just minutes before walking into court.

And I'm quoting here. It says uh it. quotes the DA saying we're supposed to. include the families in discussions. about these things. Sometimes that is a. mistake. Um talk to us about that. Well, first of all, my client didn't. find out all of the terms until they. were actually in the courtroom. So, they. knew as as right before as they were. walking in that it was going to be no. contest and um no time as far as giving. notice in the victim's room that morning.

right before walking into court. Didn't. give them any meaningful time to process. what was happening. you know, they did. have notice uh the Friday before that. the previous agreement had gone ary. Um, and it sounds to me as if there really. was no previous agreement. And the fact. that the DA would say something along. the lines of involving the family is a. mistake is highly concerning. >> So, in response to the public outcry in. this case, you have the Payne County.

District Attorney Laura Thomas issued a. detailed public statement. Uh the DA. states that they filed uh in adult court. after consultation with the victims and. their families. Your paperwork argues. that the consultation wasn't meaningful. And without referencing the specific. case, can you explain what that means? I. mean, there seems to be a disconnect. between what the DA is saying and what. you what your client is alleging. >> So, there was notice of some things, but. not everything. There might not be.

notice until right before it's. happening. Uh that was quite often. Did. the DA spend time? Yes, the DA spent. time. Different DAs spent different. amounts of time with my client as well. as the other clients. Each were told. different things. So we have not full. notice, not meaningful notice of. discussing what's happening. You know, does 10 minutes before you walk into the. courtroom, does that constitute notice?

It's a technical notice, but if you. didn't know about the hearing and you. lived an hour away and you have a right. to be present, is that sufficient? There. are lots of different arguments that can. be made within what's going on here. The. district attorney knew that these young. women were adamantly opposed to him not. having any time and not pleading guilty. And you know, consent is not a defense. to strangulation.

So to say that um juries won't find in. this way or juries go different ways, I. understand that. But there is there's no. consent to strangulation and certainly. no consent to strangulation as a minor. So why we would settle for anything less. than guilty on that just as an attorney. blows my mind. Yeah, that was a part. that was confusing to me about what. would be the difficulty at trial here. because the DA statement explains that a. a plea had spared the victims a trial.

and that quote youthful offender was the. most likely final outcome. Um, can you. explain that because again I I I was. thinking about as I've been covering. this case what a trial would have looked. like. Obviously would have been very. very difficult for your client. [clears throat] to to go on the stand. explain what happened. very difficult. for a jury to hear about this, of. course, but at the same time, you know, if you combine all the evidence that was. presented in this case, it felt like a. strong case for the prosecution. When.

you hear the DA saying, "Well, you know, we spared trial here and the youthful. offender status was the most likely. final outcome." What's your response to. that? >> It's the district attorney's job to go. in and to fight and to enforce the law. on behalf of all individuals in the. state of Oklahoma. I understand she. might believe that youthful offender was. the most likely outcome. That doesn't. mean that she should not go in and fight. for what she filed. If she filed it as. an adult, that means to me that she.

believed she could get a conviction as. an adult. So, why back off of it? Or why. not go through the entire motion process. and have the judge make that ruling. after the presentation of evidence? Instead, there were agreements entered, meaning that the district attorney. agreed that it should be a youthful. offender status. And I believe that. that's problematic, unless she wants to. admit to overcharging people where she.

filed it as an adult knowing it would. get kicked down to a youthful offender. That raises all kinds of other concerns. If we're going in and we're filing. charges too high and then we're using. them to negotiate back down later, does. that mean if you can't afford to hire a. high-powered lawyer that you're going to. get uh convicted of or having to plead. to a bigger charge than you should have. received? >> It's a it's a fair point and I have to. ask you and again if you don't want to. answer completely understand. I think. there's this missing gap here where a.

lot of people just don't understand why. would he have been given this this. treatment in the sense that it doesn't. make sense. Um I'm not from Oklahoma. I. think a lot of our viewers maybe are not. from Oklahoma. Don't know about Jesse uh. Butler. Don't know about the court. system there. Is there do you have a. theory as to why he received this uh. sentence in the end? Why he was given. youthful offender status? why he was. given essentially probation. I mean, I've covered cases all over the country.

I've never seen anything like this. Is. there anything you can share with us. about how this was justified in any way? >> I will say it's legally allowable. >> Okay, that's a very good lawyer answer. I like that one. I'm going to go. [laughter]. legally allowable. Okay, fair. It's a. It's a It's Okay, fair. Um, uh, there. was just another part I wanted to ask. you about too, and correct me if I'm. wrong. there is uh the victim's. protective order remains sealed if. unless and correct me if I'm wrong about.

that that there's this protective and. and I think that's a complicating factor. right it makes it difficult to enforce. can you talk to us more about that what. that means. >> sure so because again it involves a. juvenile it's a sealed protective order. so it's a document that can't be looked. up on our public records our ocn.net. that allows you to look up and see all. of the different court proceedings. Normally, protective orders are. something that are available uh online. for anyone to see because this one.

isn't. If these girls don't have their. paperwork with them when they would. encounter him at uh a public setting. because they all live in the same. community, it becomes their word against. his. And so, unless you have a police. officer there who has immediate ability. to access the system, no one's going to. know. And that creates a situation. because we've already had a previous. problem of the protective order not. being properly enforced when they were. all in school together. >> By the way, before I let you go, just. overall the youthful offender status in.

Oklahoma, how does it work? I mean, we. don't talk about it a lot here. How does. the system work? What should we know. about it? So, the Youthful Offender. Program is a program for older uh teens. that are still minors under the law that. commit more serious crimes to look at it. and see if they should get more serious. punishments based upon the crime that. was committed. Murder and rape being two.

of the crimes that allow you to file and. uh as an adult. And there is a question. in our mind as to whether or not. with the rape one and the attempted rape. one if there is even a process within. the statutes to make that go back to a. youthful offender when it's been filed. as an adult. >> Correct. >> It was reverse what I forgot the. terminology that was used in the uh the. paperwork. the reverse certification. Some people will tell you that reverse. certification doesn't technically exist.

anymore, but when you read the statute, um 2-5-205, I believe it is. Uh it's early, so. forgive me if I got the site wrong, but. when you look at subsection A and B, that relates to murder, and subsection D. relates to rape. And when you look at. it, it talks about in subsection A for. younger individuals accused of murder, the process of filing as an adult and. then reviewing it to see if it should go. back to youthful offender or juvenile B.

does not allow that. And our position is. that subsection D as it relates to rape. is more like subsection B when filed as. an adult. It's an adult, you file it as. an adult, you move forward as an adult. By the way, again, before I let you go, and I'll officially let you go because I. know that you're busy. Um, what has been. the public's uh response been like? What. has the community's response been like? Um, obviously there seems to be a sense. of outrage, but uh on the part of your.

client, their family, have they been. receiving uh a mountain of support. through all of this? Um, what has it. been like for them? For you to see the. public essentially or a large part of. the public turn uh on Jesse Butler and. ask questions about what happened here. and follow the ongoing aspects of this. case. >> Um, the community has been very. supportive, not just in Still Water, but. across the state and nationally. Uh that. feels very good because as you know from.

doing this rape victims, sexual [snorts]. assault survivors often don't get this. kind of support and it shows you the. outrage within the community to punish a. for the failure to punish meaningfully. offenders who commit these kinds of of. crimes. Women, especially young teen. women in Oklahoma, do not feel protected. as a result of what happened here. And. we know statistically individuals who. strangle are more likely to murder and. more likely to reaffend. And so this.

puts an individual on the street without. uh real punishment in our opinion who is. likely to offend again and severely harm. if not kill somebody. >> Rachel Busett, thank you so much for. taking the time. Uh really appreciate. it. Uh sending um our well wishes to uh. KS and her family. Again, going back to. this idea, it's very difficult to. imagine uh what she has been through and. this is continuing on and this can't be. easy, but appreciate you uh taking the.

time to explain a little bit more about. what's happening. >> Well, thank you so much for having us. on. I really appreciate it. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get [music] your podcasts. You can. follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse. Weber. I'll speak to you next time.