Oklahoma lawmaker calls for protection of sexual assault victims
- HB 1881 aims to halt the early release of certain sex offenders
- Jesse McFadden killed 6 the day before he faced another trial
- Fetgatter: “Why was this man released from prison pending new charges”
(NewsNation) — Oklahoma Rep. Scott Fetgatter is pushing new legislation to better protect potential sexual assault victims by halting the early release of certain sex offenders.
House Bill 1881, named Kaylee’s Law after a constitution in Fetgatter’s House District 16, directs courts to issue orders of no contact from people convicted of sexual abuse or exploitation crimes to their victims.
The proposal comes after police said Jesse McFadden, 39, killed his wife, her three children, and two of their friends before he died by suicide and their bodies were found on Monday.
McFadden had served 17 years in prison for a 2003 rape conviction. He was initially sentenced to 20 years but was released in October 20 after complying with Oklahoma state laws that allow for prisoners to be released early.
“I think the number one thing that everybody is asking, not just the family, is why was this man released from prison pending new charges. For sexual crimes? That was part of the reason why he was in there in the first place. So that’s, that’s where I’ll direct my legislation,” Fetgatter told NewsNation.
Fetgatter said he doesn’t have an answer for why McFadden was released under these circumstances. He said this week he plans to spend time with the pardon parole board and other officials about what went wrong and how they recommend they fix it.
Fetagatter said he has ideas of his own, particularly as it pertains to this situation with McFadden. He said as the bill is drafted at this moment, it would attack three areas as it pertains to this particular situation.
“One would be if you are convicted of these types of crimes, there’s about six different crimes in there, you would be required to serve 100% of your sentence. There would be no accumulated good behavior credits for these types of crimes, as well as no relief while pending charges are out there,” he said.
This article mentions sexual assault. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673.