Child Predator Fakes Death, Hides in Arizona Airbnb for Ten Months

When a defendant vanishes after conviction, it raises hard questions about accountability—and who’s watching whom.

A child predator convicted of six felony sex crimes against an eleven-year-old victim evaded capture for nearly ten months after faking his own death. Cacconie failed to appear at his sentencing hearing in South Lake Tahoe in August after his ankle monitor disconnected a week earlier in San Francisco. Rather than trigger an immediate manhunt, no one from the El Dorado County probation department reportedly went looking for him. His family later reported him missing and claimed he’d left a suicide note—a story that bought him time while authorities pursued a dead man.

The FBI finally caught up with him this past Saturday at a Scottsdale, Arizona Airbnb, where he’d rented a condo for two weeks using a fake photo and a fake name. He was scheduled to check out the day after his arrest, suggesting he may have felt the walls closing in or had simply planned to relocate his hide-out.

What’s equally troubling is what preceded the escape. El Dorado County Judge Michael Mclaughlin, appointed by former Governor Jerry Brown in 2018, allowed Cacconie to leave the courtroom the same day he was found guilty—despite facing up to 18 years in prison. Two retired judges and a state lawmaker have since criticized that decision, arguing he should have been remanded into custody immediately. That choice may have made all the difference.

El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson pledged last month to charge anyone who helped hide Cacconie, but his office has declined to comment on whether that plan still stands. According to Maricopa County Sheriff jail records, Cacconie remains in Arizona custody. He’s signed paperwork stating he won’t fight extradition to California, yet no one has picked him up or provided a timeline for when he’ll face a judge in South Lake Tahoe.

For the victim and the community watching this case unfold, the delays and missed opportunities only compound the original harm. Justice delayed is justice diminished—and in this case, the delays were built into the system itself.