Oklahoma's Own In Focus: Sentence For Man Convicted Of Child Sexual Abuse Outrages Victims

In an Oklahoma's Own In Focus, News On 6 is digging into the growing outrage over the sentence handed down to a man convicted of sexually abusing two young girls he knew.

A Tulsa County Jury found Shawn Canady guilty of two counts of child sexual abuse in September and the jury recommended he be sentenced to 20 years for each count, but judge Sharon Holmes sentenced him to 20 years’ probation instead.

Related: Tulsa County DA Frustrated With Sentence In Child Sexual Abuse Case

The affidavit says Canady gave one of the victims drugs and alcohol and touched her inappropriately. It says he groped the other victim and made sexual remarks to her.

Both of those girls are so outraged and disappointed by the judge's decision that they decided to share their stories because they say they feel like justice has been ripped away from them. They say going through the trauma of coming forward and testifying was all for nothing.

Ariel Harrison and Lily Johnson say what Shawn Canady did to them has consumed the last four years of their lives. It was hard enough for them to tell their story to strangers over and over again, but knowing Canady is not behind bars makes them feel violated all over again.

"Sitting there hearing her say that he wasn't going to have any jail time, any prison time completely shattered my heart. I felt completely hopeless all over again,” said Harrison.

Harrison says Shawn Canady sexually abused her when she was 14, and sexually abused her cousin Lily Johnson when she was 12. Harrison never planned to tell anyone about the abuse, but when she did it was the hardest thing, she ever had to do.

"It's been extremely difficult just being able to look at myself most days,” said Harrison.

Canady's first trial ended in a hung jury, so there was a second trial last month, where the girls had to testify yet again. The jury found him guilty and recommended 20 years for both counts.

"I felt like everything I did was finally for something,” said Harrison.

The girls were back in court this week for sentencing and read victim impact statements.

"I made a comment about how it's hard to change, it's hard to shower, it's hard to look at myself because all I see is 14-year-old Ariel and the things that he said he wanted to do to me, and the actions that he did do. She said her heart broke for me and whenever I look in the mirror, she doesn't want me to feel that way. She said she wanted me to feel empowered,” said Harrison.

Judge Sharon Holmes went against the jury's recommendation and gave Canady 20 years’ probation, leaving Lily and Ariel stunned and heartbroken. Lily Johnson sent News On 6 a statement saying in part, "This is why people are afraid to say anything. This is why people don't want to go through the court system and put everything they have out there for years only for nothing to be done."

The judge did order Canady to pay for the girls' therapy.

"That chunk of our life, those four years, money can't bring that back. We can't have that childhood back. Her whole childhood, most of mine, or our teen years was taken away by him,” said Harrison.

News On 6 went to Judge Holmes's office to ask why she made that decision, but her court clerk said Judge Holmes doesn't give statements about her decisions in court.

"It's constantly in the back of my head that I'm going to see him driving down the road, I'm going to see him at the store, and I didn't think I'd have to go through that again,” said Harrison.

Canady has to register as a sex offender as part of his sentence. We called Canady's attorney and left a message but haven't heard back.