Officials said Donald Dravis found a way out of the prison and was near the island's ferry dock when he was discovered by prison officials a few yards away from the facility's main entrance.

Dravis allegedly tried to escape less than a week after he asked a judge to let him out of prison while he appeals his conviction on charges of first-and second-degree child molestation.

In a handwritten letter received by Pierce County Superior Court Judge John McCarthy on Christmas Eve, Dravis asked for relief of confinement on constitutional grounds, writing "I am running into religious belief conflicts all over this."

He complained that his appeal is "unpublished yet on the Internet" and said "this is now scandalous and libel."

Dravis ended the letter with a reference to McCarthy's wife, Pat McCarthy, who is the newly-elected Pierce County Executive, by writing, "How's the construction business going? Wife's in charge of permits now, right?"

Residents of Steilacoom, which is across the water from McNeil Island, said they are relieved Dravis was caught quickly.

Records said the last time an inmate successfully escaped from McNeil Island was in 1992 when convicted rapist Timothy Webb managed to hide onboard a truck that was coming to the mainland on a barge. Webb was recaptured several weeks later.

Dravis could face additional criminal charges for his alleged escape attempt.