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First Watch: Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender Controversy: The Jesse Butler Case
00:24:49
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- [00:03]
Katie Ring
Hi Crime House community. It's Katie looking for another Crime House original podcast to add to your rotation. You will love Clues with Morgan Abshur and Kaylin Moore. Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaylin dig into the world's most notorious crimes, clue by clue. From serial killers to shocking murders. They follow the trail of clues, break down the evidence and debate the theories. It's like hanging out with your smart and true crime obsessed friends. Listen to Clues on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [00:45]
Doug
This is Crime House.
- [00:48]
Katie Ring
If you follow me on social media, you are probably already familiar with our first case today because of the pure rage I am still still feeling from the injustice. If you don't follow me, it's the case of Jesse Mac Butler, a teenage boy in Oklahoma who put two girls his age through months of harrowing abuse only to be let off with a slap on the wrist. Then a well known Canadian actor is arrested on allegations of SA and audiences anxiously await what will happen next. So we're here. 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.
- [01:26]
Doug
17 year old Jessie Mac Butler targeted at least two teen girls that he dated. And many of these accusations, they are right out of a horror movie in.
- [01:35]
Katie Ring
The eyes of the state of Oklahoma. Jesse aged backwards from adult to youthful offender and that meant the 78 year prison term that Jesse received also aged backwards. It was suspended all 78 years. Foreign.
- [01:59]
Hi, welcome to Crime House Daily. I'm your host Katie Ring. Here we follow the cases making headlines now where justice is still unfolding. Follow us wherever you're listening and if you want ad free episodes, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
- [02:39]
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- [03:12]
Katie Ring
Our first case comes out of the town of Stillwater, Oklahoma, and it is sure to make your blood boil. In fact, many are pointing to it as a prime example of the failures of our justice system. A high school athlete named Jesse Butler was convicted of 10 SA related charges, some including domestic assault and battery by strangulation. Jesse was facing a 78 year sentence, but to everyone's surprise and terror, he walked free and all he has to do is 150 hours of community service and have a year of counseling. There's been a ton of public outcry over what many believe is extremely lenient sentencing, not to mention a lot of fear throughout the Stillwater community that Jesse is still a danger to the public. Since the case went public, people have learned about police reports and court documents detailing the horrific, violent and repeated sex crimes carried out by Jesse. So now people find it hard to believe that counseling is and community service will do much to change his behavior. Since the two survivors in this case are minors, their identities in a few other details have been kept under wraps. But we'll break it down as it unfolded. Let's get into it. On September 12, 2024, two young girls, 116 and 1 15, came forward to the Stillwater Public Schools Stillwater Police School Resource Officer with with horrific allegations of physical and sexual abuse by a fellow student that both of the girls had dated. Since both girls are minors, their identities are protected and they are referred to AS LS&KS in the reports. The fellow student was a 17 year old named Jesse Butler. Please note, listener discretion is advised as we dig into what Butler is accused of because these crimes are horrific and the details are incredibly disturbing. The first victim, ls dated the suspect, Jesse Mac Butler from late January 2024 to early March 2024. During their about two month relationship, Ellis reported that Butler often physically assaulted and essayed her. She said he assaulted her on multiple occasions beginning on February 2nd of 2024. That afternoon, the couple went to an Oklahoma State University wrestling match together. And after the match, Butler suggested they get ice cream. But when they drove to a local ice cream shop, Butler changed his tune. Once he parked the car, Butler proceeded to grope, restrain and even bite her, insisting they have sex. When she refused. Butler proceeded to initiate intercourse anyway, saying he was, quote, sorry for what he was about to do, but he had to do it. The girl was hyperventilating, crying and yelling. No. Thankfully, her cries were loud enough that a passerby overheard her and approached the vehicle, which scared Butler enough for him to stop, but only for A short while, he told the girl to stay down so no one could see her, then peeled out of the parking lot. As he drove, he warned her that if she contacted authorities, they would both be in trouble. And the torment didn't end there. Once they got back to Butler's home, he parked the car in his driveway and tried to initiate sex again. When the girl told him she needed to go home, Butler forced her on top of him and told her she couldn't leave until he was finished. The victim managed to wrestle herself from his grip, get out of the car and run to her own car. However, Butler followed her, climbed into her car, and continued to taunt and grope her and even grab her by the neck. According to the police report, this was only the first of several assaults in the two months they were together. Later that February, the couple was parked outside of a gym in their neighborhood when Butler exposed himself to her and demanded that she perform oral sex on him. When she refused, Butler grabbed the back of her head by her hair and forced her onto him. She was terrified that if she didn't comply, he would hurt her even more. And the abuse still doesn't end there. That same month, Butler and the girl were together in his home theater. When Butler again attempted to essay her, she started crying and yelling no. At which point Butler's mother knocked on the door to ask if everything was okay. Butler said everything was okay, so his mom simply ignored what she had heard and went back upstairs without actually checking in on them. Then he drove the girl home, but once they were there, he kept her in his car for two hours. Court documents say he told her she couldn't leave until she, quote, did what he wanted her to do. When she escaped into her house, Butler followed her inside, continuing to make unwanted sexual advances. Finally, around 1:30 to 2:30am Butler's sister texted him to come home, and he ended up leaving. In another incident later that month, Butler and the girl were parked behind a fried chicken restaurant when Butler demanded that the victim get into the back of the car with the seats down when he made sexual advances. The girl repeatedly told Butler that she did not want to, but he proceeded to digitally SA her. The victim was unable to physically defend herself against a much larger Butler, and the assault did not end until she was visibly hurt. In multiple other incidents in February, Butler repeatedly essayed the girl in this manner. On one occasion, the victim's sibling had been in the car with them beforehand. Butler gave the sibling his debit card and told them to go get something to eat. While the sibling was gone, Butler assaulted the girl again. Throughout this time, Butler regularly threatened the girl if she didn't comply or if she told anyone what was going on. He said he would kill her, her family, and even himself and his own family if she ever told anyone the truth. Finally, on February 29, 2024, Butler did the most violent thing yet. The pair was parked outside of a Walmart when he tried to initiate sex. When the girl said no, Butler flew into a rage and strangled her until she fell unconscious. When she came to, Butler was towering over her, laughing like a psychopath. Later, she found a handprint shaped bruise on her neck. After this incident, the girl realized she had to stay away from Butler for good, regardless of his threats because her life was already in danger. She went to the hospital to have her neck injuries treated and while she was there, doctors told her and her parents that if she had been strangled for just 30 more seconds, she would have died. Around the same time, Butler set his sights on a new victim and he took his crimes to a terrifying new level.
- [10:09]
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- [10:14]
Katie Ring
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- [11:54]
Doug
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- [12:26]
Katie Ring
After almost two months of physical abuse and SA, Jesse Mac Butler's first victim broke up with him. But unfortunately he moved on quickly and targeted another one of his classmates. They started talking shortly after her parents started letting her date. She would go to his baseball games and he went to church with her family. He even went to her family game nights and made sure to always bring her flowers. In other words, he manipulated her and her family into thinking he was this innocent, pure hearted guy with integrity. And once he gained her family's trust, he carried out all of the same forms of abuse as he did in his previous relationship. Except this time Butler victimized this girl for six months, just like before. The violence culminated in a brutal strangling. But now Butler did something he hadn't done before. During a forensic interview on September 25, 2024, the second victim, identified as KS, detailed the first incident of physical abuse by Jesse Butler, which occurred on April 22, 2024 at a Sonic in Stillwater. On this occasion, Jesse Butler reportedly attempted to pull her pants down and touch her as they sat on the bed of his pickup truck at the Drive in restaurant. She told Butler no, but he continued to grab and grope her. Butler became angry, grabbed her arm, spun her around and threw her on the ground. This action left scratches on her arm, which Butler laughed about. The victim said that this incident demonstrated to her that Butler would use physical force on her if she did not comply with his sexual demands and she ended up having sexual relations with him to avoid physical injury. She said that it was always aggressive and violent and he would always overpower her. So she eventually just learned what to do and what not to do to avoid being seriously injured. According to ks, Butler would pin her down and she was physically unable to get him off of her, which would often lead her to hyperventilate, which Butler thought was funny. KS described an occasion in July of 2024 in which she was house sitting for a family friend. While she was there, Jesse Butler came to the house and expressed a desire to have sexual intercourse with her at the house. She reported she did not want to do anything at the house while she was house sitting, which made Butler extremely angry. He came up behind her, put his arm around her neck and and started to strangle her. She couldn't breathe, so she scratched his arms and attempted to get away, but she could not free herself. She woke up on the floor of the living room after losing consciousness and reported there were red marks across her neck after Butler strangled her. Approximately 15 minutes after strangling her, Butler sa'd her three to four times. She also said that Butler strangled her on a second occasion during that week. She said Butler told her he wanted to strangle her so he could film it on his cell phone. So he set up his phone, got on top of her and strangled her until he watched her slowly lose consciousness. During the investigation, investigators obtained a search warrant for Butler's cell phone and they found the exact video evidence corroborating her account. KS also said that he would often force her to perform oral sex on him by grabbing the back of her head and forcing it up and down. On another occasion outside of a Walmart, he digitally essayed her so aggressively she started bleeding and when she asked him to stop, he continued and laughed and shamed her for bleeding. What should have been light hearted puppy love high school relationships turned into full on nightmares as Jesse Butler spent months brutalizing two of his female classmates. After taking both girls reports investigating for months and finding corroborating evidence including medical records and photo evidence of the bruises and other marks he left on the victims. Police arrested Jesse Mack Butler on March 4, 2025. When in custody, investigators searched his phone and found even more evidence of abuse in the video he had made of one of his assaults. With that, Jesse faced a total of 11 charges related to SA and domestic violence, which meant he was facing 78 years in prison. But in the most controversial plea deal I've ever seen, Jesse. In return for entering a no contest plea on all counts, he was given a youthful offender status. Not only that, but he would not even have to spend a day in juvenile detention.
- [17:03]
In August of 2025, Jesse officially entered the no contest plea to all counts and was only sentenced to a year of rehabilitation therapy and 150 hours of community service. In a statement, the mother of one of the girls was outraged and said she had harsher punishments for breaking curfew when she was younger. In the time since Jesse went to trial, people have blamed his parents for letting his rampage continue under their watch. And if you watch his arrest video, you will see just how much his mother and family clearly enable him to. Which was reiterated in court when one of the victim's mothers accused the Butlers of enabling their son rather than parenting him. When the news broke, the community was outraged, and pretty soon speculation began to swirl as to why Butler got off so easy. You see, the Butler family is well known in Stillwater. They're not only well off, but Jesse Butler's father served as the director of operations for the Oklahoma State University football team. And many in Stillwater suspected that the Butler family swayed the DA into a favorable deal. Despite the fact that Butler is now 18 years old, he committed his crimes when he was 17. So the DA agreed to try him as what is known as a youthful offender. Youthful offenders are tried in juvenile court and are granted special status to bypass the consequences that an adult would face in court. Members of the community worry that Butler will offend again. Even an Oklahoma State representative expressed his outrage, telling reporters that Butler's lenient sentence spoke to the corruption in the court system. Members of the public were so outraged that protesters even gathered outside of the Payne County Courthouse, including students from his own school. They say that justice has not been served, and they're disturbed that not only is Butler walking free, but he will still be their classmate. Butler is allowed to remain a virtual student at Stillwater Public Schools and is expected to graduate this year, which is actually insane because people were kicked out of my high school for much less. Protesters in Stillwater, as well as people online, have pointed out similarities between Butler's case and the Brock Turner case back in 2016. If you remember, he was the Stanford student who only got three months in prison after saing an unconscious woman. That case saw a similar public outcry over what seemed like a slap on the wrist punishment for a horrific sex crime. In that case, Turner was required to register as a sex offender, meaning the public could keep tabs on his whereabouts. Butler, however, isn't required to do this. That means he's free to live and work anywhere, undetected and possibly to victimize others. We can only hope that every single girl and woman remembers his face so that he cannot victimize anyone else. Because giving a man like this, absolutely no repercussions for such heinous and unforgivable acts will only make him more empowered and entitled in the future.
- [20:22]
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- [20:54]
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- [21:55]
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- [22:29]
Katie Ring
Our next case also involves alleged sex crimes, but this case has to do with a famous TV actor. 53 year old Canadian actor Mike Smith is most well known for his portrayal of the character Bubbles in the Canadian sitcom mockumentary Trailer Park Boys. He is also a co writer and managing director of the show. In the show, his character is bumbling, loony and lovable, and he's known for his thick glasses, driving a go kart and living in a shed full of cats. He's been a beloved character on the show since way back when. It premiered in 2001, stuck around through its seven season run, and then reappeared in its 2014 revival on Netflix. The lovable Bubbles is probably the last person anyone would expect to be involved in allegations of sa, but like many other predators, they are usually people you would not expect on October 2, 2025, Mike Smith was arrested by the Halifax Regional Police. According to a criminal complaint, he was charged with SA in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Authorities say the alleged assault took place in December of 2017 in Dartmouth, a municipality in Nova Scotia where Smith lives. Even though the alleged incident occurred in 2017, Canada has no statute of limitations on SA, which in many cases can give survivors time to heal and feel safe before coming forward. Smith's presence was not required at his arraignment on Monday, November 10, so he didn't attend. It seems like he's really trying to shy away from the spotlight in this case. Prosecutors announced during that hearing that they planned to pursue the case against Smith, but outside the courthouse, his lawyer urged the public to not jump to conclusions. He said, quote, this case will be tried in court, it won't be tried in the media. But of course Smith will also be tried in the court of public opinion, especially since the case is already having an effect on the show. On November 9, Trailer Park Boys Inc. Announced that Smith had, quote, stepped away from his roles as managing director on the show.
- [24:34]
Even though Smith has yet to go to trial. This isn't his first run in with the law, nor is it his first accusation of assault. On April 1, 2016, he was charged with domestic battery after a fight with a woman in a hotel in Hollywood, California. However, with little evidence to support support those allegations, the LA City Attorney ended up dropping that case a month after the charges were brought. Not everyone in Smith's orbit was willing to move on, though. His co star, Lucy DeCoterre, resigned from the show after the allegations became public. She cited the news as a reason for her departure, saying in a social media post, quote, if I find out that somebody is abusive, I cut them out of my life. Although in Smith's case it seemed like everyone was in agreement, Smith and the alleged victim co authored a statement that denied any dispute had taken place. They said they were simply friends who had gotten into, quote, a loud and heated dispute and that Smith had not committed any active assault. The alleged victim assured the public that she had not been in danger. In fact, she hadn't even been the one to call the cops. Apparently, someone had heard the argument from another room and they alerted the authorities. That incident faded from public memory until these latest allegations against Smith resurfaced. Details on this most recent case are sparse. Smith has yet to issue a public statement, and as of this recording, the alleged victim's identity is being kept under wraps. However, Smith has been ordered not to contact the alleged victim. Taping of the thirteenth season of Trailer Park Boys wrapped back in August before Smith was arrested, and it appears that the season will still feature the actor as bubbles. In a statement on Instagram, Trailer Park Boys Inc. Announced that they intend to move forward with releasing the new season in April of 2026, regardless of the status of Smith's case. We'll keep an eye on the proceedings as they move forward, and as always, we'll be sure to bring you any new updates.
- [26:36]
What did you think of today's cases? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. Comments See you next time if you haven't already, Follow us wherever you're listening at Crime House Daily. And make sure to follow us on social media rimehouse24.7 for real time updates because the pursuit of justice never stops.
- [27:01]
Doug
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- [27:30]
Katie Ring
Looking for your next Crime House? Listen, don't miss Clues with Morgan Abshur and Kaylin Moore Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaylin take you down deep into the world of the most notorious crimes ever. Clue by clue, it's like hanging out with your smart true crime obsessed friends. Listen to clues on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts.