Sex offender returns to face charges

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A former teacher and convicted sex offender who spent more than a month on the run has been returned to Buffalo.

The long arm of the law caught up with Cara Dickey two weeks ago in a motel in Chicago. Dickey had been on the run since January 9, when she cut off her electronic ankle bracelet and disappeared. U.S. Marshals tracked Dickey down after learning she had been picked up by police on prostitution charges.

Dickey fled after learning she was in violation of her parole for spending Christmas with her girlfriend and her girlfriend's little brother. Dickey, a mother of three, had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student at South Buffalo Charter School and was sentenced in 2009. A condition of her parole was that she not spend any time with minors.

While on the run, Dickey called News 4 and said this, “My violation has come with being involved and fraternizing with another convicted felon, a grown woman.  There is no child involved, there is no man involved.  I was fraternizing with a grown woman who I have been having a relationship with for quite a few months.”

Dickey contended she was being targeted by parole officers and that though she was in violation, she had done nothing wrong. A short time after Dickey disappeared, so did her girlfriend, 26-year-old Candice Brighon. Brighon is also a convicted sex offender.

Monday night, U.S. Marshals returned Dickey to Buffalo to face charges. Brighon was arrested with Dickey in Chicago, but it's unclear if she will also be returned to face charges.

Dickey will appear before a parole board and be given the opportunity to explain her actions. It's also likely Buffalo Police will charge her with failure to notify authorities of a change of address, which Dickey is required to do as a registered sex offender.

For now, Dickey is being held in the Erie County Holding Center.