Man Serving Life Sentence for Child Sex Abuse Allegedly Escaped Prison With Help of His Mother, a Former Corrections Officer

Aman who was in prison for continued sex abuse of a child was able to escape through the help of his mother, who is a former corrections officer, according to Texas police.

39-year-old Robert Yancy Jr. was convicted in 2022 and given a life sentence without parole, but he escaped prison on Sunday before police were able to recapture him on Monday morning at about 8 a.m.

His mother, Leonor Priestle, was arrested Sunday and charged with facilitating his escape, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The TDCJ said that Priestle went to visit Yancy at the Clemens Unit of the Brazoria County prison while wearing a black sweater. Yancy reportedly put on the sweater and walked out of the unit with her and then got into a white 2021 Nissan Versa to drive away.

Just after 6 p.m. on Sunday, police got an alert from their statewide license plate reader system and were able to locate Priestle in the vehicle. They also arrested her boyfriend, Russell Williams, for allegedly helping Yancy escape, but the inmate was not in the car.