A 33-year-old Alabama man accused of raping and sodomizing a young girl texted his girlfriend while he was on the run to blame the 8-year-old child for enticing him.
Colt Bryan Lecuyer appeared before a judge in Dale County on Tuesday on the charges, WDHN reported. Judge Stanley Garner is mulling whether to grant bond.
Lecuyer is already a registered sex offender on lifetime federal probation following a 2013 conviction for attempting to entice another child into sexual activity.
As CrimeOnline reported, Lecuyer was arrested on Sunday after two days on the run. The Dale County Sheriff’s Office launched a search for him after a witness reported seeing him raping a little girl in the back of his truck. By the time officers arrived on the scene, he was gone.
Several hours later, Auburn police officers found his truck in a Walmart parking lot 100 miles away. Deputies seized the vehicle and returned it to Dale County, but a search for the suspect was unsuccessful until he was spotted on foot in the Tuskegee National Forest on Sunday. The Macon County Sheriff’s Office and units from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the state’s Department of Corrections responded and tracked him down.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Dale County Investigator Caroline Jackson told the court about Lecuyer’s texts to his girlfriend, the Dothan Eagle reported. He said he wanted to explain, that the 8-year-old was at fault, Jackson said. He also asked his girlfriend not to call the police.
He texted his mother as well, telling her, “My life is over, and I am sorry I failed my family.”
“If they catch me, I’m spending the rest of my life in prison.”
Garner said he would make a bond ruling by Wednesday afternoon. He was still listed in jail records as having no bond Wednesday evening. The federal government has put a hold on Lecuyer, and he will be handed over to federal authorities if he is granted bond.
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[Featured image: Colt Bryan Lecuyer/Dale County Sheriff’s Office]
