US Marshals: Escaped Rapist Not Captured

PHOENIX -- The U.S. Marshals Service in Phoenix says a convicted rapist who walked away from a Phoenix courthouse nearly a year ago remains at large and is not in Mexican custody.

U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Matt Hershey said Tuesday that an announcement that 28-year-old Adrian Gonzalez Cruz had been captured was erroneous.

Cruz was convicted in 2005 of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's 9-year-old daughter and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 35 years.

The former ice cream truck driver was in court nearly a year ago to stand trial for two unrelated rapes when he escaped during a lunchtime break.

A surveillance camera caught Cruz calmly walking out of the downtown Phoenix courthouse.