Former UFC Champ Cain Velasquez Released from Prison After Shooting at Man Accused of Molesting His 4-Year-Old Son
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NEED TO KNOW
- Cain Velasquez was released on parole from a California prison on Sunday, Feb. 15
- The former UFC champion was sentenced to five years in prison in March 2025 following a 2022 shooting incident in which he chased down and shot at a man accused of child molestation
- “He received 1,283 days of pre-sentence credit for time served while awaiting sentencing and was eligible for credit-earning opportunities while incarcerated,” the California Department of Corrections said in a statement
Cain Velasquez has been released on parole from a California prison.
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According to the California Department of Corrections, the former UFC heavyweight champion, 43, was released from a prison in Soledad on Sunday, Feb. 15, after pleading no-contest to charges of assault with a firearm, attempted second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury in 2024.
“He received 1,283 days of pre-sentence credit for time served while awaiting sentencing and was eligible for credit-earning opportunities while incarcerated,” the Department of Corrections confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement. “He was released to parole supervision on Feb. 15, 2026, after serving his full sentence as defined by law.”
Velasquez was sentenced to five years in prison in March 2025 in relation to a 2022 shooting incident where he chased down and shot at a man accused of child molestation.
Cain Velasquez (center) in January 2024Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty
“Cain Velasquez was sentenced to five years in prison today for a vigilante shooting spree that wounded an unintended target and sprayed bullets near a school crowded with children, teachers and parents,” the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office wrote in a press release at the time.
The athlete entered a “high-speed chase” in San Juan, Calif., while firing his registered .40 handgun “multiple times at a truck carrying three people," per the release.
Velasquez was chasing a daycare worker who was accused of repeatedly molesting his 4-year-old son, per The New York Times, KGO-TV and ESPN.
“Velasquez began shooting at the victims at a Morgan Hill intersection,” the D.A.'s Office continued in the March 2025 release. “As they tried to flee, he rammed their vehicle and fired more rounds at them, striking the driver in the arm and right flank, severing his brachial artery, as they drove past the Charter School of Morgan Hill.”
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According to a March 2022 press release from the D.A.'s Office, Velasquez ended up shooting the daycare worker's 63-year-old male relative, who survived his injuries, and was later arrested by Morgan Hill police.
The March 2022 release also stated that the target, Harry Goularte, had been arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Court three days before the incident on felony charges of child molestation. He had been released from custody “on the supervised own recognizance release program with GPS monitoring over the District Attorney’s objections,” per the District Attorney's Office.
Goularte pleaded not guilty, and his case remains ongoing, per The New York Times and The Mercury News. Court records show that his next hearing is a trial setting conference on April 15, when his trial date will be scheduled.
“One man’s decision to take the law into his own hands left an innocent man wounded and endangered schoolchildren, teachers, and many others in our community,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said of Velasquez’s actions. “If you want to do justice in Santa Clara County, please apply for a badge.”
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