Ok so. Rapist found dead in search for teenagers faces new sex abuse charges
HENRYETTA, Okla. – The mother of the convicted sex offender who was due to appear in a retrial for child sex abuse on the same day he was found dead along with six others during a search for two missing teenagers on a rural property says her “heart breaks” for all families involved.
The sprawling wooded property east of Henryetta where the bodies were discovered on Monday is associated with Jesse McFadden, a 39-year-old registered sex offender who was wanted by Oklahoma authorities in connection with the disappearance of two teenage girls. The advisory was rescinded on Monday afternoon when investigators discovered the bodies.
“I haven’t had time to think about my son or anything like that,” his mother, Ladonna McFadden, said in a brief phone interview on Tuesday. “I can’t imagine what they went through.”
“I don’t understand,” she added in tears. “I would never, ever, ever hope for something like this.”
What led to the death remains unclear and officials have released few details. Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice declined to tell reporters at the scene how many of the victims were minors, how they died or how long they had been on the property.
He said the state medical examiner should confirm the identities of the victims.
The mystery swirling around the scene has sent shockwaves through Henryetta, a community of 6,000, and cast scrutiny on McFadden, who was issued a warrant for his arrest Monday in nearby County of Muskogee when he failed to appear in court for child pornography.
Court records show a jury trial was scheduled for Monday morning. Rex Earl Starr, an attorney for McFadden, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Members of a U.S. Attorney’s Office task force visited the property twice Monday after learning the missing teens may have been with someone associated with him, U.S. Office spokesman Gerald Davidson said. Oklahoma State Investigation.
Authorities found the bodies during a second visit at 3 p.m., he said.
The missing teenagers – identified as Ivy Webster, 14, and Brittany Brewer, 16 – were last seen at 1:22 a.m. Monday at an unspecified address in Henryetta, authorities said, and were believed to have traveled with McFadden in his White Chevy. Avalanche.
Authorities did not say why the girls were allegedly with McFadden.
History of sexual violence
State records show he had a history of sexual violence and served nearly 17 years after being convicted of first-degree rape and robbery in 2003.
While in state prison in 2017, McFadden was charged with having a cell phone as contraband and using it to communicate with a 16-year-old girl in Muskogee. A probable cause affidavit said McFadden sent the girl sexually explicit photos and received nude photos of her, the Muskogee Phoenix reported in 2017.
He faced charges of child pornography and solicitation of conduct/sexual communication with a minor, and his first court appearance was scheduled for November of that year. A preliminary hearing and trial have been repeatedly postponed in the case.
The state had planned to introduce evidence of McFadden’s “prior wrongdoing” at the trial, which was scheduled to begin this week. In court documents, the state accused McFadden of sending handwritten letters and text messages to the teenager “in which he not only discussed their relationship, but also things of a sexual nature and manipulated and controlled the victim”.
According to the state, the defense attorney planned to argue that McFadden was not actually in contact with the teenager, but rather with her 21-year-old friend, and that another inmate had the phone McFadden allegedly had. used.
The Muskogee District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
plea for clemency
Prior to his 2003 arrest and conviction, McFadden said he worked at Walmart, court records show.
The following year, in a letter written to the judge who sentenced him, McFadden asked for clemency “in the hope that you would cut my time”.
“I know what I did was a horrible thing,” he wrote, adding, “I can’t begin to understand how I changed the victim’s life or how I did it. feel, her or her family. I can’t imagine the pain I’ve caused. I don’t think it’s possible to experience such pain unless it happens to you.
McFadden also wrote that he was looking to get his high school equivalency diploma after finishing ninth grade and needed drug and alcohol rehab. He also said he owed $64,000 in restitution and court costs and wanted to pay back the money he stole from his grandfather.
“I want to do all of this,” he wrote, “because I’d like to go out and prove that I’ve changed and am a better person.”
Graham Lee Brewer reported from Henryetta, Okla., and Erik Ortiz from New York.