The King County Sheriff’s Office believes a convicted rapist who allegedly returned to attack his victim has fled to Mexico and changed his appearance.
The survivor of these attacks feels failed by the system.
“If he’s in Mexico and that’s him, he’s clearly enjoying his life while I here am not. [I’m] hiding and afraid,” the woman who asked not to be identified told KING 5 Thursday. “That’s really not the way it should be.”
Court records indicate Francisco Carranza-Ramirez, of White Center, raped the woman in her home in September 2018. She was able to call 911, and Carranza-Ramirez was arrested. He was charged with rape in the third degree.
On June 13, King County Superior court judge Nicole Gaines Phelps sentenced Carranza-Ramirez to time served and ordered him to “leave the country and live in Mexico.”
"Because the defendant pleaded guilty at arraignment, it was without a plea agreement. Moreover, at sentencing, the PAO objected to the defendant being sent directly to Mexico and asked the court to impose community custody," a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office (KCPAO) said.
KCPAO said the suspect's citizenship was unknown, and nothing in his criminal history indicated he was not legally in the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it couldn’t speak to Carranza-Ramirez’s immigration status, but said it had no record of his immigration. Records show he was ordered not to return to the U.S. while under the court's jurisdiction.
The agency said it was not notified he was being released from jail.
Authorities said after he was released, Carranza-Ramirez returned to the woman’s neighborhood in violation of a protection order and attacked her while she was out with her young son.
The woman said Carranza-Ramirez ran at her, hit her with an object, and knocked her out of the wheelchair she uses.
“He flipped me backwards out of my chair and was choking me,” she said.
Carranza-Ramirez fled, and a bystander intervened, the woman said. She felt frustrated he didn’t face harsher consequences for the original attack.
“This shouldn’t have happened, he shouldn’t have gotten out,” she said. “I do hold it against the government for not doing something, anything they could have.”
Authorities initially believed Carranza-Ramirez was in White Center, though they now believe he’s in Mexico. The King County Sheriff’s Office tweeted new photos of Carranza-Ramirez on Thursday. He is wanted on multiple felony warrants.
And the survivor wants him found.
“I just have to wonder what kind of mindset he’s in,” she said. “I thought it was safe in the daylight. Now it doesn’t feel safe at all.”
The woman said she plans to move out of her home. Her friends are raising money through a GoFundMe page for support.