'Mr. Rape Torture Kill' Run Out Of CA, Arrested In AZ

Smith was released from California's Coalinga State Hospital in mid-July 2020 after spending 21 years there for openly fantasizing about raping and killing children. Smith pleaded guilty in 1985 to a misdemeanor sex offense against a California child, requiring him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. However, in 2005, that requirement was lifted for an unknown reason.

Smith moved to Phoenix and registered there in July 2021, Fox 10 reported.

According to the Fox 10 report, Arizona investigators said Smith was required to register his social media and email accounts but did not register the Facebook account he used to contact the mother.

"Smith admitted to having an e-mail, using the e-mail to create the Facebook login, and having a Facebook account, which he did not register," according to court documents obtained by Fox 10. "Smith admitted to looking up the victim's mother on Facebook, and sending her messages saying he was back around 10 times or less over the last three weeks."

According to Arizona investigators, Smith was mad at the victim's mother for what she said about him online, Fox 10 reported.

"He wanted her to think he was back in California and scare her," the court documents obtained by Fox 10 read.

In July 2020, demonstrators gathered in Lake Elsinore in the 31000 block of Casino Drive to protest Smith's location in the city following his release from Coalinga State Hospital. The pressure forced him to quickly move to a motel in north San Diego County.

"Cary decided to leave the Lake Elsinore area. Thank you to everyone who engaged with us upon learning he was in our community," the Riverside County Sheriff's Lake Elsinore station posted to social media.

Prior to coming to Lake Elsinore, Smith stayed in Los Angeles for one night before making his way to Orange, where he checked into a halfway home. Within days, Corona police said Smith had relocated to a motel in their city and was being surveilled.

"Mr. Smith is not on any form of supervised release or required to register as a sex offender. Smith can move around without restrictions," Corona police said at the time.

That Corona Police Department message was quickly followed up by another from the agency: "A short time ago Cary decided to leave the City of Corona. Thank you to everyone who engaged with us upon learning he was in our community."

A few hours later, the Riverside County Sheriff's Lake Elsinore station issued a community alert.

"Convicted Sex Offender Cary Smith is CURRENTLY in the city of Lake Elsinore," the alert read. "...Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department are currently watching Smith while he is staying at a local hotel to ensure the safety of our community. Smith is not on any form of supervised release nor is he required to register as a sex offender. Smith is allowed to move around without restrictions. We will update the community when he leaves the city."

During the shuffle of Smith from one city to another, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel issued a news release and sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking for help researching why Smith was no longer required to register as a sex offender despite a conviction and requirement to do so in 1985.

Newsom's office referred questions to the Department of State Hospitals. Ken August of the Department of State Hospitals said state and federal privacy laws prohibited the department from commenting.

Smith pleaded guilty in 1985 to a misdemeanor sex offense against a child, requiring him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, Spitzer said.

However, in 2005, that requirement was lifted for an unknown reason, Spitzer said.

"We need to look into this and know why he is no longer a lifetime 290," Spitzer said, referring to the code in the law that requires sex offenders to register with authorities so they can be tracked.

"We believe he is a lifetime registrant," Spitzer said.

Smith was committed to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino in 1999 on a psychological hold when his wife gave a psychiatrist a letter her husband wrote that described sex acts he fantasized about on a 7-year-old boy in his neighborhood in Costa Mesa, according to prosecutors.

The state kept him locked up in a state hospital under a civil commitment that concluded he was a danger to children, according to prosecutors. Under that law, he had the opportunity to seek release in a trial every six months.

But during the hearings he testified that he continues to fantasize about sexually assaulting and killing young boys, prosecutors said.

"He calls himself Mr. RTK," which stands for Rape, Torture, Kill, Spitzer said. "That's what I think has kept him in. He says, 'If you don't cut off my penis and hands I will molest again.'"