As the search continues for Francisco Carranza-Ramirez, the wanted rapist now accused of attacking the disabled woman he raped just days after being released from jail last week, KIRO 7 has reviewed audio from his recent controversial court hearing where a judge agreed to sentence him to credit for time served and accepted his promise to return to Mexico.
He never left Washington and prosecutors filed additional felony charges after they said he violated a protection order and violently attacked a woman he raped three days after being released from jail.
Prosecutors said Carranza-Ramirez served nearly nine months in jail after being arrested for the September rape, pleading guilty in early 2019 to third-degree rape, which the judge said carried a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
Carranza-Ramirez was expected to provide proof he had returned to Mexico.
“If I don't have something overseeing him and he doesn't get on a plane to Mexico … then we have issues,” said King County Superior Court Judge Nicole Gaines Phelps in a courtroom audio clip posted to the county’s website.
The judge did not put Carranza-Ramirez on probation as prosecutors requested and the courtroom audio explains why.
"If the court places him on community custody he would be prohibited from leaving the country,” said judge Gaines Phelps at a June 13 hearing.
A King County Superior Court spokesperson pointed KIRO 7 to that audio clip following a request for comment after we interviewed the woman Carranza-Ramirez raped who said the courts and prosecutors failed her.
"It was really scary to me that they – the courts found it acceptable to trust a rapist to just get released and say what he says he's going to do,” said the disabled woman he raped in an interview Tuesday with KIRO 7. "If the prosecutors had charged him appropriately and the judge had kept him locked up, he wouldn't have even had the chance to do this.”
King County deputies said he knocked her out of her wheelchair, choked her and threatened to kill her three days after being released from jail. Investigators believe he may be hiding out in the White Center where last year’s rape occurred.
"The criminal justice system thoroughly let me down,” said the victim, who is now in hiding.
Judge Gaines Phelps said at last week’s hearing that her hands were tied by the case presented by King County prosecutors who knew the rape victim was disabled but did not include aggravated factors.
The victim said prosecutors got it wrong from the beginning.
“They didn’t do their job,” said the victim, who told KIRO 7 she fought for tougher punishment but now feels like her voice didn’t matter. "Victims do not have the voices that they should."
"I understand and I empathize with you,” said Judge Gaines Phelps, speaking to the victim. “You feel unheard."
Feeling voiceless is common amongst rape victims, according to advocates.
“That is a constant worry of ours and it's one of those things we are changing and trying to change,” said Deputy Executive Director of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center DeAnn Yamamoto. "The system is set up for the defendant.”
On Thursday morning, the King County Sheriff's Office said Carranza-Ramirez was believed to have fled to Mexico.
If you have experienced sexual assault and need support, or if you would like more information about sexual violence, call King County Sexual Assault Resource Center's 24-hour Resource Line at 888.99.VOICE or here.
A GoFundMe has also been set up for the victim.
Cox Media Group
