A convicted rapist has been spared prison and will instead perform community service and attend counselling.
Jesse Butler, 18, was arrested on March 4 after reports of assault by two high school students in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
He was 17 at the time of his arrest and was charged as an adult – but his status was then changed to youthful offender.
In August, Butler pleaded no contest to 11 counts including first-degree rape, domestic assault and battery by strangulation, attempted rape in the first degree and rape by instrumentation.
He faced a 78-year sentence after being convicted – but has been spared jail.
People magazine reports that the judge instead ordered Butler to perform community service and attend counselling.
Advocates for the victims believe Butler was set free because of his family’s prominence in the town.
Butler’s father is the former director of operations for Oklahoma State University’s American football team, according to People.
In a victim impact statement one of Butler’s victims said: ‘I’ve had to explain bruises, explain silence, explain why I started isolating from people who love me.
‘You didn’t just strangle me with your hands, you strangled my voice, my joy, my ability to feel safe in my own body.’
The mother of one of the girls, in a victim impact statement, said how her daughter ‘had to prove she was the victim, over and over again, while the system made excuse after excuse for the person who hurt her’.
She added: ‘My daughter has handled this with more strength than most adults could.
‘Watching her stay brave while adults failed her has been both inspiring and heartbreaking.’
According to Oklahoma television station KTUL, protesters gathered outside Payne County Courthouse in Stillwater on Wednesday.
One, Tori Grey, said: ‘The justice system here in Stillwater has allowed a violent sex offender to walk free.
‘Not only is he currently free and loose on the streets. He’s a virtual student at Stillwater Public Schools as a senior and after he finishes having the slap on the wrist, he doesn’t even have to register as a sex offender.’
Butler is due back in court on December 8.
In 2016, a college student’s rape conviction gained national attention after he was handed a six-month prison sentence.
Brock Turner was found guilty of sexually assaulting an intoxicated victim, sexually assaulting an unconscious victim and attempting to rape her.
He was arrested in 2015 after two students witnessed him assaulting an unconscious woman outside a Stanford University frat party.
Turner was released half way through his six-month sentence – despite prosecutors seeking six years’ imprisonment.
Judge Aaron Persky was criticised for the lenient sentence which he handed Turner.
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