Convicted child molester Jimcy McGirt was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison this morning for failing to register as a sex offender and for violating the rules of his probation.
77-year-old McGirt is the man behind the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tribal jurisdiction. He pled guilty last summer to failing to register as a sex offender when he got out of prison in 2024.
WHAT HAPPENED IN COURT TODAY:
McGirt spoke in court today for about 15 minutes and said he’s sorry, he’s a changed man, and that he misunderstood the rules of his probation.
“I thought he was sincere, he got emotional, he was straight forward about it,” McGirt’s attorney Richard O’Carroll said. “He impressed me to be honest with you and in the final analysis the judge impressed me.”
But, the judge and prosecutors had a different tune — both saying McGirt is a repeat and dangerous sex offender who was in trouble less than 3 months after getting out of prison and couldn’t abide by the simplest rule, to register his address.
Prosecutors say McGirt has a criminal history going back 60 years and a repeated interest in children including molesting two boys under the age of 10 and a 4 year old girl. They say McGirt was given an opportunity by getting out of prison in 2024 but within three months was caught red handed using the internet, had a Snapchat account tied to his email address and had downloaded/ uploaded tons of pictures of kids on his accounts.
2024 FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER:
Seminole Nation Police arrested McGirt in 2024, just three months after McGirt was released from prison.
He was required to register as a sex offender, but prosecutors say he broke his probation because he stayed at a home that was within 2,000 feet of a park and was living in a house with three minor children.
McGirt told officers his car broke down and he was only staying at that house with his son, until his car was fixed.
McGirt said that he had notified his probation officer, but the probation officer told police he had not been contacted.
ORIGINAL CASE:
In 1997, McGirt was convicted of sexually assaulting a four year old child in Wagoner County.
He was sentenced to 500 years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections but McGirt, who is an Indian, challenged his conviction, arguing the crimes happened on tribal land and the state didn’t have the authority to prosecute him.
In July of 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with McGirt and vacated his state convictions.
McGirt pled guilty to the crimes in federal court in 2023 and was sentenced to 30 years but as part of the plea agreement, McGirt was given credit for time served and released on probation in May of 2024.
RELATED: Jimcy McGirt released from prison after plea deal gave him credit for time served
WHAT THE VICTIM SAYS:
The woman who was molested by McGirt when she was four also spoke today and said she’s tired of having to do this and hopes it’s the last time. She says McGirt has shown time and time again why he should never be out in society.
She says what happened to her as a child has impacted her emotionally, physically and mentally and still does today.
RELATED: Jimcy McGirt to be released from prison after plea deal gives him credit for time served
What’s next
McGirt was given credit for time served so he will only serve around 2 years in prison but will be on supervised release for the rest of his life.
