A former employee of the Larned State Hospital has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for her role in the 2021 escape of an inmate.
A Pawnee County judge handed down the sentence for 52-year-old Rachel Perez of Larned. She had pleaded no contest to three felony charges connected to the escape of 45-year-old John Freeman Colt from the Sexual Predator Treatment Program at Larned State Hospital. Colt escaped on June 30th, 2021, and he was recaptured almost three months later in Wayne County, Utah. He was sentenced to a 21-month term with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and he is now back in custody at the Larned facility. He is charged with two felonies in connection with the escape and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 20th.
Another woman, 47-year-old Liliana Houser of Johnson County, has been sentenced to prison for helping in the escape. Houser and Perez will have to register as sex offenders for 25 years after they are released from prison.
