75-time offender Calderon captured once again

SEATTLE - A dangerous repeat offender with 75 convictions was on the run again, prompting new concerns about why the justice system gave him another chance.

A judge ordered Francisco Calderon to treatment after he assaulted a child on a Seattle sidewalk. But Calderon disappeared hours after checking into the facility.

Jail records show he was recaptured Wednesday evening, but no other details about where it happened have been released.

For the past year, the Project Seattle series at KOMO News has delved into Calderon's prolific criminal history.

MORE |74th conviction for man who threw coffee on 2-year-old

Now after the warrant and eventual capture ofCalderon’s again,a search for answers continues about how to deal with these violent repeat offenders.

Calderon said all the right things as he stood before a judge, having just served his jail sentence for throwing coffee in a child's face.

“I need help. I need treatment,” Calderon said during the hearing.

Calderon struggles with addiction and mental illness, but when the judge ordered him to at least 30 days at a treatment center, Calderon was gone hours after checking in.

Daynard Butler, the father of the toddler who Calderon assaulted, is in disbelief.

“I'm at a loss for words of how this guy is out right now," Butler said. “And the scary part is what happens if he does something to somebody else."

KOMO legal analyst Scott Lindsay said the problem is that most of Calderon's offenses are misdemeanors, so he doesn't meet state requirements to be involuntarily committed no matter how many crimes for which he is convicted.

“It's time to say enough is enough. You need to do your hard jail time in this case," Lindsay said.

A spokesperson for Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes had said before Wednesday evening that once Calderon is found and re-arrested, they will recommend appropriate next steps for the judge to consider.