A child sex offender in California is still at large after being released on bond last summer while awaiting sentencing.
Authorities in El Dorado County, near Lake Tahoe, are seeking the public’s assistance in locating Carl Kakoney, 51, who was convicted last year on six felony charges related to lewd acts involving an 11-year-old girl.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has labeled him a “convicted violent sex offender” and is urging anyone with information about his location to reach out to law enforcement or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers.
On July 17, 2025, Judge Michael McLaughlin set Kakoney’s bail at $1 million. Normally, with a bail bondsman, a suspect only needs to pay 10 percent, making it $100,000 in his case. Typically, collateral like a car or home could be used for this.
Kakoney was scheduled to appear for sentencing on August 25, 2025, facing a potential 18-year prison term.
However, he did not attend.
In 2023, the El Dorado County Probation Department fitted him with an ankle monitor. Reports indicate that this device was disconnected on a San Francisco street on August 17, 2025. Eight days later, on his sentencing day, his family reported him missing.
The district attorney in El Dorado County, Vern Pearson, and the victim’s family criticized the judge’s decision to release Kakoney. Pearson remarked that it’s unrealistic to expect that a disconnectable ankle monitor would effectively ensure his return to court, especially given his serious charges. He added that the county values accountability, which, in this case, hasn’t been upheld.
Kakoney’s family alleged he left a suicide note, but law enforcement views it as a tactic to avoid capture. Over several months between 2014 and 2015, he sexually abused the victim, who is now an adult, taking advantage of his close ties with her family. The victim expressed her feelings, stating, “He is a monster. He took away my innocence.”
