PAWNEE COUNTY – A woman charged in connection with the escape of John Freeman Colt from the sex offender treatment program at the Larned State Hospital entered a plea agreement Thursday.
Rachel Rena Perez, 52 of Larned, appeared on bond in the Pawnee County District Court Thursday afternoon before District Judge Bruce Gatterman for a Felony Scheduling Conference. She previously entered a not guilty plea to a fifteen count felony complaint and requested a jury trial.
Rachel Rena Perez, 52, Larned, who originally pleaded not guilty to 15 Felony counts, changed her plea to no contest to three felonies that included Obstructing in the Apprehension or Prosecution of a Registered Sex Offender, Unlawful Sexual Relations with a patient while employed by Kansas Dept. of Aging and Disability Services and Conspiracy to Escape from the Sexual Predator Treatment Program, according to Pawnee County Attorney Doug McNett.
In exchange for the plea, the State agreed to dismiss the remaining charges and Perez will be sentenced to a prison term consistent with a previously sentenced co-defendant Liliana Guadalupe Houser, 45 of Garden City. Houser was sentenced to 16-years in prison after a similar plea agreement in the case.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Department following the June 30, 2021, escape of Colt from the Sexual Predator Treatment Program (SPTP) located on the campus of Larned State Hospital. Colt was later captured in Wayne Country Utah on September 27, 2021. He is currently back in the custody and is charged with Aggravated Escape from Custody and three counts of Aggravated Violation of the Kansas Offender Registration Act. A preliminary hearing on his charges is scheduled for October 11.. If convicted, under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Colt faces between 55 months and 247 months in the custody of the Department of Corrections depending on his criminal history.