A western Kansas sheriff says a convicted rapist who escaped from a county jail used toothpaste to hide the cuts he was making in his cell bars.

Thirty-seven-year-old Benito Cardenas Jr. broke out Friday night from the Ness County Jail while awaiting sentencing on the rape conviction. He was captured Sunday in nearby Trego County.

Cardenas had been filing the cell bars for some time. The bars are painted white, and Sheriff Bryan Whipple says Cardenas used white toothpaste to cover up the cuts.

Cardenas finally was able to bend the bars, squeeze through and leave the jail while it was being monitored remotely.

Whipple says the jail was built in the 1950’s, and there’s no money to build a new one or hire more staff.