Judge let convicted child molester remain free. He was last seen in San Francisco
A convicted child molester was last seen in San Francisco days before he failed to appear for sentencing in El Dorado County, according to a California Department of Justice missing person listing.
Prosecutors say he is a fugitive.
Carl Cacconie, 51, missed his Aug. 25 sentencing in South Lake Tahoe after a judge allowed him to remain free on $1 million bail following his conviction. He had been found guilty July 17 of six counts of committing lewd acts on a child under 14, according to the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office.
The state DOJ lists Cacconie as last seen Aug. 22 in San Francisco. KCRA, citing an El Dorado County Probation Department record, reported that Cacconie's GPS ankle monitor last transmitted from an address in San Francisco's Sunset District before losing connection Aug. 17.
The case is drawing renewed attention after KCRA reported new details about Cacconie's disappearance this week and the victim's family publicly questioned why he was allowed to remain free after his conviction.
"He's a monster, and he took away my innocence," the victim, who asked KCRA to remain anonymous, told the station.
El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson told KCRA that prosecutors objected to Cacconie's release and asked Judge Michael J. McLaughlin, who presided over the trial, to remand him.
"This is someone who a jury has unanimously convicted him of a number of acts against a child," Pierson told the station. "Under those circumstances, there's simply no question he should have been remanded into custody."
California law generally calls for a defendant to be jailed once convicted, unless but the decision is ultimately up to a judge, who can consider factors such as public safety, the seriousness of the offense and the likelihood the defendant will return for sentencing.
Prosecutors said the evidence at trial showed Cacconie molested a girl he knew over several months in 2014 and 2015. A second person also testified that Cacconie molested her under similar circumstances in the early 2000s, according to the district attorney's office.
After the verdict, Judge McLaughlin found aggravating factors, including that the victim was particularly vulnerable and that the crimes involved planning and sophistication, prosecutors said. Cacconie faced a maximum sentence of 18 years in state prison.
"It angers me because we were so close to him going to jail," the victim's mother, Alana Ramirez, told KCRA.
She added, "I don't understand why you would let him go after he was found guilty. I don't have an answer, and I wish he - or someone - would give us one. Nobody has explained how this was possible."
The court declined to comment, citing judicial ethics rules that generally restrict judges from publicly discussing pending cases.
Cacconie's whereabouts remain disputed. KCRA reported that Cacconie's family told San Francisco police he left a suicide note, and his attorney, Chris Walsh, told the station he believes Cacconie is dead.
Walsh cited Cacconie's record of regularly appearing in court as one reason he believes his client may not have intentionally fled.
Pierson told KCRA he believes Cacconie is alive. The district attorney pointed to the lack of a recovered body and Cacconie's failure to surrender after his ankle monitor stopped transmitting.
The victim's family also told KCRA they believe he is alive until a body is found.
The district attorney's office has urged anyone with information about Cacconie's location to call 911 and not try to approach him.
"I feel like the justice system let us down, and it hurts," Ramirez told KCRA.
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