‘My gloves are clearly off’: OK House passes ‘Knights Law’ in honor of Henryetta victims
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)– With the one year anniversary of the Henryetta murder-suicide around the corner, lawmakers have advanced a House bill that would keep convicted child predators in jail for life.
Convicted rapist, Jesse McFadden, killed Brittany Brewer (16), Ivy Webster (14), Tiffany Guess (13), Michael Mayo (15), Rylee Allen (17), Holly Guess (35). McFadden reportedly killed himself afterwards.
Former Norman Assistant Principal found guilty of rape
Autopsy reports show each of the six victims were shot in the head.
When the families weren’t getting answers, Ivy’s family launched their own search for answers inside McFadden’s home.
With the permission of the property owner, Ivy’s family, along with News 4 went through the home where a mountain of potential evidence was uncovered.
The Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office was called back to the home to retrieve the items, and within 24 hours of News 4 airing the findings, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation took over the case.
Ivy’s dad, Justin Webster has previously told KFOR he feels as if the investigation was “botched.”
Additionally, he said McFadden should’ve remained in jail especially with a pending child pornography case. McFadden was set to appear in court in that case the day his victims’ bodies were found.
McFadden was convicted of first degree rape in 2003. Under current Oklahoma law, he was required to complete at least 85% of his sentence which was 17 years.
McFadden was released in 2020.
Now, the Webster family, along with Rep. Scott Fetgatter (R-Okmulgee) are pushing to change the sentencing for convicted child sex offenders.
House Bill 3992 addresses five crimes:
First degree rape
Child sexual abuse
Child Pornography/Aggravated Child Pornography
Child Prostitution
Human Trafficking
Instead of offenders having to complete a required 85% of their sentence, it would be the full 100%. The sentence would be no less than life without parole.
In an 84-8 vote in the House, the proposal passed Monday afternoon.
“We’re excited. We know we still have a lot more work to do, and we hope to have more people with us along the way,” said Justin. “I think by the grace of God, we were praying and hoping and we felt confident like we were going to get to this point. We’re not stopping. My gloves are clearly off and I will fight and I will wear that suit of armor that God gave me and I will fight until every kid is a lot safer.”
We talk to Ivy all the time. We have her memorial garden out there that we go and spend some time in and talk to her. We have Ivy in our room with us every single night. We talk to her and I kiss her and I tell her good morning every morning. We talk to Ivy and we know she’s with us.
Justin Webster, Ivy’s dad
Representative Mauree Turner (D-OKC) asked Rep. Fetgatter if the death penalty is included as a punishment in the proposal.
“No, it is not but if you’d like to amend the bill and add that, I would accept it as a friendly amendment,” said Rep. Fetgatter.
“Not in your wettest dream,” responded Rep. Turner.
“Wow,” said Rep. Fetgatter.
As a man of faith, I know a lot of people are torn by faith and doing the right thing. Obviously, we have a personal connection to that question. I want to go where the support is. Ultimately, the goal is to protect kids and make them more safe than they are today. And if we can do that, that’s our goal.
Justin Webster, Ivy’s dad
Despite the heated back and forth between lawmakers, the bill now heads to the Senate floor.
“I hope the Senate sees this and I hope they take it and run with it, too, because this is clearly what the people of Oklahoma want. They want to protect our kids. They want to make sure what happened to us doesn’t happen to them and that’s encouraging,” added Justin.
Headlines
Justin and his family are now planning to lobby Senators before their bill is put up for another vote.
In the online petition the organizers say they wanted to call it “The Knights Law” in honor of those killed.
The ‘Knights Law 2.0‘ covers the federal level and is available online to sign.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
