A convicted rapist who is accused of taking off his GPS bracelet just a day after being released from prison on Monday will face another felony, a Becker County, Minn., prosecutor said.
The tamper alarm on the tracking unit for Robert Baca, a
44-year-old Level III sex offender, was activated Tuesday afternoon, police said. That sparked a three-hour search before police eventually found Baca in Pelican Rapids, Minn.
Baca was registered with the Minnesota Department of Corrections as living in Detroit Lakes. He was released from prison Monday, having served a prison stint on a 2008 charge of failing to register as a predatory offender.
He's being charged with another felony count of failing to register for the allegations connected to the manhunt Tuesday, said Tammy Merkins, an assistant Becker County attorney.
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The failure-to-register conviction came after Baca served nearly 10 years for raping a woman in his apartment in Detroit Lakes in 1996. After his release in November 2008, he left for Minneapolis but didn't register there.
Charges for not registering were filed in Becker County District Court in December. He was arrested in California in January by the U.S. Marshal Service.
Minnesota's sentencing guidelines for a conviction on failing to register would depend on his criminal history, Merkins said. Baca was sentenced to 26 months in July 2009 on the same charge and given credit for more than half a year spent in local jail.
He could also see more prison time for potentially violating the terms of his release. After new charges are resolved or Baca posts bail, the DOC has 12 business days to conduct an internal hearing to determine if Baca violated the terms of his release, said Shari Burt, a DOC spokeswoman.
The hearing officer could find that Baca didn't violate the terms of his release or find that he did and either alter those terms or give him more time behind bars, she said.
Burt said Baca is under the DOC's jurisdiction until March 9, 2021.
Baca's attorney couldn't be reached for comment.
Nathan Bowe, a reporter for the Detroit Lakes Tribune, contributed to this report
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