Forum attendees air concerns after tragic events

The recent tragedy near Henryetta, along with what steps are underway to prevent something like this from happening again, was the primary topic during last Friday’s Henryetta Chamber Legislative Forum.

Rep. Scott Fetgatter was in attendance, and was joined by a large group of family, friends, and supporters of the Webster and Brewer family. They shared their concern, their anger and continued frustrations in finding answers and possible solutions to ensure those convicted of child sexual crimes pay heavily for what they have committed.

“There aren’t any words I can say,” Fetgatter said. “Just know that I love you, and me and my family are praying for you.”

The representative shared his plan to get legislation passed before the upcoming deadline, which is aimed at better protecting the public from convicted sexual perpetrators.

Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, who was unable to be in attendance due to business at the state capitol, has pledged to help on the Senate side to get the measure through.

The three areas that his legislation addresses immediately are:

• Child sexual offenders would have to serve 100 percent of their sentence, not 85 percent.

• No accumulated time for good behavior.

• If charged with an additional felony while in prison on a similar crime, the perpetrator would not be able to be released early.

“The situation we have right now is the judicial system failed,” Fetgatter said.

The legislator stated his job is to find out why Jesse McFadden was released, and ‘where did it go wrong.’

“I want to pass a law that closes any loopholes to keep something like this from ever happening again,” he said. “This will be a series of legislation that I will have to work on.”

Attendees were concerned, for instance, that even though Mc-Fadden was reportedly regularly checking in due to his status, he was seen at school events, including track meets, and other events in the community where children were present.

“He shouldn’t be near anybody,” a citizen stated. “Every single parent … should have known who he was … we should have those boards (listing sexual offenders) posted … everywhere. I want everybody in town to know where the sex offenders are.”

Secondly, were the authorities doing their due diligence to ensure that the living arrangements for the sex offender were correctly reported to the authorities; and were physical visits being made to the home to see that all information was true?

What type of mental help and counseling is given to these individuals while incarcerated.

“Child sex offenders should be looked at like a first degree murder,” another citizen said. “They need to be imprisoned for the rest of their life.”

As the session continued, concerns as to the thoroughness of the investigation, especially inside the home where the McFaddens lived, and the discovery of computers, phones, drugs and paraphernalia, and sex-related items.

Citizens emphatically stated lawmakers need to pay attention to the concerns of their constituents, especially when it comes to matters affecting innocent children.

“It always takes a horrible, horrible thing to get your attention,” an attendee said.

Fetgatter stated that he plans to use a bill already advanced, and strip the wording to add the new legislation in, praying that the bill would be considered and ready to be in place by the end of the session on May 26.

Additional funding for law enforcement agencies to keep track of child sexual predators, possible ‘tagging’ of those offenders, and what communities can do locally was also discussed during the session.