District Attorney Explains Jesse McFadden's Early Prison Release, Trial Delays

A lot of people have questions about why Jesse McFadden was released from prison in 2020, even though he was charged with a sexting case in 2017, while he was still behind bars.

Muskogee County District Attorney Larry Edwards said McFadden’s trial date had been set several times over the last few years, but there were unexpected delays.

McFadden's attorney died a couple of years ago, the first prosecutor on the case left for a new job, another prosecutor broke her foot the day before the trial, and then COVID closed down the courts.

McFadden was set to go on trial Monday morning, May 1, for sending nude photos and having sexual conversations with a minor using a contraband cell phone while McFadden was in prison. But, McFadden never showed up to court.

“Once we knew he had failed to appear and the Amber Alert had been issued, I was in immediate contact with my victim and informing her so she could take whatever precautions she needed to take,” said Edwards.

Edwards said he had McFadden’s case ready to go Sunday night and was ready to start the trial. However, he said McFadden started messaging the victim in the case, using a false name, then sent a selfie of himself to the victim.

“In looking back at those text messages, she did send me those, they are tragic. Let’s just say that. He more or less blames her for what he did and that’s the part I really have the problem with because she didn’t do anything wrong,” said Edwards.

McFadden was convicted of rape in 2003 in Pittsburg County and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

He was released after serving just under 17 years, in 2020, because of the way DOC calculates time.

Prisoners on different levels can get different credits, like credits for good behavior, having a job while in prison, taking classes and other things.

“It was an 85% crime so he was never going to get out before he served that. Through his programs that he took and the level he was, he was a level 4, which means he obtains credits like 45 days per month,” said Kay Thompson with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

DOC said McFadden wasn’t released early but, instead, his sentence was considered served, which means he wasn’t released on probation and didn’t have to report to DOC when he was released.

McFadden did have to register as a lifetime sex offender. He registered in Okmulgee County in May of 2022. 

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