STILLWATER, OKLA (KOKH) — A federal lawsuit filed Monday is seeking damages from Stillwater Public Schools, district leadership and the city of Stillwater for failing to protect one of the victims in the Jesse Butler case. “The justice system here in Stillwater has allowed a violent sex offender to walk free,” said Tori Grey, who protested November 5th after Butler avoided jail time. Butler was arrested and charged with nine felony counts for sexual abuse and assault and battery. However, he was granted youthful offender status after he accepted a plea deal. Now, a lawsuit is blaming the school district, claiming it created and maintained a hostile environment. The lawsuit alleges the district didn’t conduct an investigation into butler’s behavior after one of the victim’s reported the sexual assault, took no action to protect her from Butler, and didn’t notify staff and employees about the report. “Why did you rape the victims Jesse? Why did you rape those girls? Why did you strangle them Jesse?” yelled former attorney Ron Durbin at a hearing Dec. 8. The lawsuit says an emergency protection order against Butler was served to him at school but was not entered into the school’s database, in violation of the district’s policy, and that Stillwater High School’s principal told the mother of the victim to report any problems she had with Butler to him instead of the Stillwater Police Department. “I can’t believe what’s been allowed to happen here,” said Misty Koshen, one of dozens of protestors who showed up outside of Butler’s hearing December 8th. The lawsuit also says the district instituted policies to prevent students from protesting butler’s sentencing, like scheduling mandatory activities for seniors on the day the protests were set to occur, and by instituting a policy that penalized students for attending protests during the school day. “I just stand with our community, we deserve better,” said Koshen. FOX 25 reached out to Stillwater Public Schools for reaction to the allegations made in the suit but was told they can’t comment on matters that involve pending litigation. The lawsuit seeks a total of $600,000 in damages. Read story: https://ktul.com/newsletter-daily/law…
Lawsuit claims Stillwater schools failed to protect victim from Jesse Butler
