A Tulsa woman says she is terrified for her safety as the man convicted of abusing her prepares to walk out of an Oklahoma prison this month, having served less than half of his original sentence. Melodee Thompson says Henry Pineda is due to be released at the end of November after serving about three and a half years of an eight-year term, and she does not believe he has changed.
Thompson told News On 6 that she met Pineda on Tinder in 2022, a relationship that she says turned into nearly two months of abuse. She says Pineda physically assaulted her, sexually abused her while she slept, and burned her legs with a torch. He also allegedly threatened her family and kept her confined to her bedroom during that stretch.
Thompson said the fear kept her from sleeping for almost the entire ordeal. “I probably only slept maybe like 48 hours because I was scared to sleep,” she said, describing weeks spent in survival mode inside her own home. She says she finally escaped when Pineda left the house and reported him to police, still carrying visible marks, bruises and burns from the abuse when she sought help.
From a Rape Charge to a Plea Deal
According to the station's report, Pineda was originally charged with rape but ultimately pleaded guilty to sexual battery and domestic assault and battery, second offense. In March 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, a term that ran concurrently with a three-year sentence for auto theft and domestic assault and a one-year sentence for domestic assault in the presence of a minor. Pineda's attorney declined to comment on the case.
Thompson says she believed Pineda would serve the full eight years behind bars. Instead, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections says it calculates release dates using a levels-and-credits system required under state law, and that holding Pineda past his calculated discharge date would violate his civil rights. The agency says Pineda will have served his sentence in full, as calculated under that system, when he is released at the end of November.
A Survivor Braces for His Return
Thompson says her fear extends beyond herself. She said she worries Pineda could approach her in an unknown, unmarked vehicle and harm her or another woman once he is free. She does not believe his time behind bars has changed him, and she fears he could hurt her or someone else after his release.
Oklahoma does offer a notification tool for people in Thompson's position. The state describes its Victim Information and Notification system, known as OK VINE, as a free, 24-hour, confidential, computer-assisted service that can automatically alert registered parties to changes in an offender's custody status, including release dates.
For now, Thompson's account remains the central record of what she says happened to her and of the fear she carries into Pineda's release. The case underscores how sentencing credits and custody-level calculations, determined by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections rather than a judge's original term, can shape exactly when someone convicted of violent abuse walks free.
