A convicted child sex offender in California remains on the run after a judge released him on bond last summer while he was awaiting sentencing.
Authorities in El Dorado County near Lake Tahoe now are asking for the public’s help to locate Carl Cacconie, 51, who was convicted last year of six felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts on an 11-year-old girl.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office described the fugitive as a “convicted and violent sexual predator” and is asking anyone who knows his whereabouts to contact law enforcement or the Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers.
On July 17, 2025, Carl Cacconie, 51, was convicted of the charges. El Dorado Judge Michael McLaughlin set his bail at $1 million, which the convicted pedophile posted.
Typically, with the help of a bail bondsman, suspects can put up just 10 percent, which in Cacconie’s case would have been $100,000. Cars, homes, and other valuables can be used as collateral.
Cacconie was instructed to return to court on August 25, 2025, for sentencing. He faces 18 years in prison.
He never showed up.
The El Dorado County Probation Department fit Cacconie with an ankle monitor in 2023, the Daily Mail reported.
That device was disconnected on August 17 on a street in San Francisco, according to a report obtained by KCRA3.
Eight days later, the day of his sentencing, his family reported him missing.
El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson and the victim’s family were critical of the judge’s decision to allow Cacconie to bond out of jail.
“To expect that a person on $1 million bond, who has now been convicted, that merely adding an ankle monitor, which can be easily cut off, adds any real assurance to bringing him back to court, it’s kind of folly,” Pierson told the TV news outlet.
He added, “This is a county that prides itself on holding people accountable. And, unfortunately, that’s so far not what has happened.”
Cacconie’s family has told authorities that he left a suicide note, but police and prosecutors believe that’s a ruse by the fugitive to evade capture.
Cacconie inflicted sexual abuse on the victim, now an adult, over a period of several months in 2014 and 2015, and his felonies were facilitated by his close relationship with her family, KCRA3 reported.
“He’s a monster, and he took away my innocence,” the victim reportedly said.
Veteran crime writer Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets, which documents one of the worst cases of child sex abuse in U.S. history, and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.