Child rapist captured 600 miles from Georgia prison

Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The child rapist who was mistakenly released from a Georgia prison was captured Wednesday night in Kentucky near the border with Ohio.

The U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Tony Maycon Munoz-Mendez, 31, into custody in Fort Thomas, Ky., at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

He was serving a life sentence at the Rogers State Prison in Reidsville, Ga., when he was released in error Friday, department spokeswoman Lori Benoit said.

Prison officials said they are investigating the circumstances that led to him being released from prison.

Munoz-Mendez was convicted of repeatedly raping and molesting his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The victim was 10 years old when he started raping her.

Fort Thomas is just outside Cincinnati, more than 600 miles from the prison.

The victim's mother didn't believe her daughter's accusations at first, believing Munoz-Mendez's denials. Her story changed once she was arrested and charged. She pleaded guilty to child cruelty in the second degree for failing to protect her daughter.

Munoz-Mendez insists he is innocent and has done nothing wrong. He was convicted on two counts of rape in 2015. He was four and a half years into his life sentence when he was mistakenly released.