A man who took part in the Capitol riots is wanted on child sex solicitation charges after he was released from prison.
Andrew Taake, 36, from Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty in 2023 to beating officers with a metal whip and dousing them with bear spray while storming the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021.
He was sentenced to six years in federal prison plus three years of post-released supervison. However, after Donald Trump pardoned nearly all of the Jan 6 rioters, Taake was released from prison.
Just days later though, Texas prosecutors are seeking him on charges of soliciting a minor.
The charges relate to texts he allegedly sent to an undercover cop pretending to be a 15-year-old girl back in 2016.
State-level prosecutors said Taake, who was 27 at the time, had expected the contact would culminate in a sexual encounter, and that at minimum he would have committed child molestation had such an encounter occurred.
He was charged with a third degree felony carrying up to 10 years in prison.
Taake had ben awaiting trial for these charges when he headed to the Capitol to take part in the riots, according to court documents.
Texas authorities had requested Taake was kept in custody so he could be tried on the solicitation charges, but he was released from prison anyway.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Taake is now considered a wanted fugitive in connection with the pending charges.
A spokesperson for the Harris County district attorney’s office said they were “already in the process of tracking Taake down, as he must answer for the 2018 charge of soliciting a minor online.”
Taake isn’t the only Jan 6 rioter to find themselves in hot water after being pardoned by Trump. Last week, Daniel Charles Ball was charged with violating gun ownership laws one day after he was released from prison.
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