Georgia Accidentally Sets Free Child Rapist

Authorities in Georgia are on the hunt for a rapist who was serving a life sentence when he was mistakenly released from prison on Friday. Tony Maycon Munoz-Mendez, 31, jailed since 2015 on convictions of rape and aggravated child molestation in Gwinnett County, was released from Reidsville's Rogers State Prison "in error" around noon, the Georgia Department of Corrections said Monday, per CNN. It didn't give a reason for the error or say when officials realized the mistake. A prosecutor who helped put Munoz-Mendez behind bars says he notified the victim's family after hearing about the release in the news.

"It's incomprehensible," John Warr tells WXIA, noting Munoz-Mendez repeatedly raped the daughter of a girlfriend he was living with over several years, beginning when the girl was 10 years old. "He'd already been out of prison the whole weekend." "The priority of the GDC is apprehending the offender as quickly as possible and at this time we have all resources focused on the search," the department says, per CBS News. "As soon as the error was discovered, the GDC immediately put those resources into place." Anyone who sees Munoz-Mendez—5'9" and 186 pounds with brown hair and eyes—is asked not to approach him but to call 911. (More Georgia stories.)