SCOTTSDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — A convicted child molester wanted out of California was arrested in Scottsdale on Saturday after nearly 10 months on the run, authorities said.
The FBI Phoenix Desert Hawk Fugitive Task Force arrested Carl W. Cacconie around 9 a.m., according to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI Sacramento Field Office.
The task force includes FBI agents, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies and U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Cacconie was convicted in El Dorado County, California, on July 17, 2025, of six counts of committing lewd acts on a child under 14.
Cacconie was scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 25, 2025, but a judge denied prosecutors’ request to keep him in custody until then. He was freed on $1 million bail after surrendering his passport and being placed on a monitoring device.
Authorities said the device stopped transmitting on Aug. 17, 2025. He was last seen five days later in San Francisco.
On the day he was supposed to be sentenced, Cacconie’s family told the court they had reported him missing. They also said he left behind his phone, wallet and a suicide note.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Cacconie on May 14 in the Eastern District of California for unlawful flight.
Investigators later tracked him to Scottsdale, where the Phoenix-based fugitive task force arrested him.
Cacconie is expected to make his first court appearance in Scottsdale before being extradited to California, where he will face sentencing.
“We are deeply grateful to our federal partners, whose collaboration was invaluable in locating and apprehending Cacconie,” El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said in a written statement. “While nothing can erase the harm caused, we hope today’s outcome offers a measure of peace to Cacconie’s survivor and family, knowing that he will now finally be held accountable and sentenced for his crimes.”
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