Scores of outraged protesters on Wednesday gathered outside the Payne County Courts Office in Stillwater, Oklahoma, after local teen Jesse Mack Butler eluded a 78-year prison sentence despite pleading no contest to numerous rape and assault charges.
Instead, it’s community service for him.
“I feel terrible for those young women,” protester Adelyn Smith told 2 News Oklahoma.
“Almost losing your life, having a video being recorded of you almost losing your life and your assaulter being able to just walk with no punishment, a slap on the wrist and 150 hours of community service,” she continued. “That’s just ridiculous.”
Butler was 17 years old when he was arrested in March following claims of sexual assault by two fellow high school students, according to the police report. One of his victims told the authorities he recorded strangling her to unconsciousness, per the Oklahoma Watch.
