TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — A man arrested under “Molly Jane’s Law,” which is named for Molly Jane Matheson, a 22-year-old Fort Worth woman who was murdered in 2017, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault, officials say.
Jessie DeWayne Ray, 26, pleaded guilty Wednesday to the 2019 aggravated sexual assault of a woman at Crystal Canyon Park in Arlington. The victim reported she was approached from behind by a man holding a gun while she was on one of the trails.
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said Ray recorded the attack with his iPhone.
In May 2020, Ray was arrested in Tyler, Texas, during a narcotics investigation, according to court documents. During a search of his iPhone, officers discovered the video of a sexual assault.
Molly Jane’s Law, which was authored by State Rep. Craig Goldma (R-Forth Worth) in 2019, requires law enforcement investigating a sexual assault to input information into the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program database that’s maintained by the FBI. The goal is to help investigators find similarities in cases to prevent the same person from attacking again.
After officers discovered Ray’s recording, they input the details of the attack into that database, providing the way for Ray to be the first arrested under Molly Jane’s Law.
Ray received a life sentence in Tyler for manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance and was then transferred to Tarrant County for sentencing in the 2019 sexual assault attack.
Ray will go to Oklahoma City next, where he will be facing charges on an additional sexual assault linked to him after his arrest on the 2019 Tarrant County case.
"It is extremely satisfying to know Molly Jane's Law provided a way for the agencies involved to communicate with one another in order to identify this offender," said Tracy Matheson, Molly Jane's mother, who was in court for the sentencing. "Serial rapists must be held accountable so that lives can be saved. He may be the first; he will not be the last."
WFAA reporter Morgan Young sat down with Tracey Matheson in May 2022.
She recounted the chilling story of the day she found her daughter’s body, and how her and her husband confronted their daughter’s killer, Reginald Kimbro in court.
In March 2022, Kimbro pleaded guilty to Moly Jane Matheson’s rape and murder in addition to the rape and murder of Megan Getrum, a Plano woman. Kimbro also pleaded guilty to several other rapes. Kimbro was given two life in prison with the possibility of parole sentences, another life in prison sentence and three additional terms of 20 years in prison.
Tracy researched and became an expert on how sexual assault is handled in the criminal justice system, which she called “broken,” as well as how victims are treated once they come forward with their stories.
“Sexual assault is treated very poorly within the system and beyond the system,” Tracy Matheson told WFAA in May. “We, as a community, as a society, do not support the victims of sexual assault the way that we should."
Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson said Molly Jane’s law is a key resource for law enforcement officers investigating cases of sexual assault.
“Rapists can be caught, arrested and prosecuted before they attack again,” said Wilson.
