$10K reward offered in search for sexually violent offender who escaped from Larned State Hospital

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – The U.S. Marshals are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of a a convicted sex offender who, on June 30, escaped from a state mental hospital in Larned. Investigators believe John Freeman Colt, 42, planned his escape for several months, obtaining a replica of a staff ID badge and dress clothes. The U.S. Marshals Service said Colt was able to convince a worker that he was a new doctor and needed help finding his way out of the hospital. Several hours passed before staff noticed Colt was missing.

Colt stands about 5′7, and weighs about 200 pounds. HE has hazel eyes and brown hair and has a tattoo of a heart with the letters, “BH,” on his left arm.

“John Colt presents a clear threat to the community every day he is not in custody,” said U.S. Marshal for the District of Kansas Ronald Miller. “He has been deemed a sexual predator, and the U.S. Marshals consider his escape a major case and are devoting all available resources to his capture.”

Anyone with information on where Cold could be should contact local law enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service at S at 1- 877-WANTED2 or send information to the U.S. Marshals via the USMS Tips app.

The U.S. Marshals Service said Colt was initially sentenced to five years in state prison in December of 2001 for aggravated sexual battery, attempted rape, aggravated burglary and four counts of aggravated battery against law enforcement. Colt was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and after his criminal sentence, Kansas courts deemed him “a Sexually Violent Predator at high risk to commit a future sex offense and too dangerous to be released.”

The U.S. Marshals Service said Colt was indefinitely committed and sent to the Larned State Hospital’s Sexual Predator Treatment Program in 2007, where he lived until the June 30 escape.

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