Family outraged after man convicted of raping young girl wrongfully released from Galveston County Jail

GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas – A child molester got a glimpse of freedom after being wrongly released from the Galveston County Jail.

The family of the young girl he was convicted of raping was outraged and contacted the KPRC 2 tip line.

“How are you going to tell me you lost an entire person? We’re talking about a real man. You’re going to let someone go,” Sheryl Boucher said.

“Something that should never have happened. Then you let this guy slip through the cracks. It’s like, can justice be achieved?” said Jeremy Boucher.

Settlemire was sentenced to 20 years in prison in October after being convicted of three counts of aggravated child abuse. A conviction the Boucher family fought for after their 8-year-old daughter protested, saying her birth mother’s boyfriend had raped her for years.

“I cried a lot the day it was in court,” Sheryl said.

“It was a good victory shout. It really was. We thought it was over,” Jeremy Boucher said.

The family immediately felt fear Thursday evening. They received a text message through a victim reporting system called Texas VINELink stating that Settlemire had been released from the Galveston County Jail.

“This guy knows where we live, so it was like, it was a very unsafe feeling,” Jeremy Boucher said.

Settlemire had been transferred from Brazoria County to Galveston County pursuant to a court order. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset told KPRC 2 the accident was the result of human error. He said an employee failed to enter Settlemire’s case into the system and he was released because they did not know he had a warrant for his arrest.

About 16 hours after Settlemire’s release, the sheriff said he was arrested again after being found about 80 miles away near The Woodlands.

“You know, there’s some miscommunication happening. And when you’re dealing with a three-time felon for aggravated sexual assault, it’s a public safety issue,” Jeremy said.

Days after Settlemire’s recapture, the Bouchers began frantically searching prison websites after he no longer appeared in the Galveston prison system. After Boucher’s and KPRC 2 reporter Corley Peel called, they finally heard he was being transported to a Huntsville jail.

“Thanks Corley for calling. She found that out,” Jeremy said.

To finalize matters, the family shared a text message they received confirming Settlemire had made it to prison.

“I feel relieved,” Sheryl Boucher said.

Sheriff Henry said they are investigating what happened and trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening in the future.