Massachusetts

Convicted Child Rapist Who Disappeared During Mass. Trial Found in Maine

Stephen Corbin, 38, of Methuen, disappeared in the middle of his trial for raping a 14-year-old and 15-year-old girls on multiple occasions in 2017

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A man convicted of child rape in Massachusetts last month who fled in the middle of his trial has been found and arrested in Maine, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office confirmed Friday.

Stephen Corbin, 38, of Methuen, disappeared in the middle of his trial for raping a 14-year-old and 15-year-old girls on multiple occasions in 2017 at a home in Lexington and a motel in Bedford.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan put out a call to the public asking for help locating Corbin earlier this week, after investigators were unable to find Corbin for sentencing. He was located, with help from the US Marshals Service, at a home in Farmingdale, Maine.

Stephen Corbin, 38, of Methuen, disappeared in the middle of his trial for raping a 14-year-old and 15-year-old girls on multiple occasions in 2017 at a home in Lexington and a motel in Bedford, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said Tuesday.

According to Ryan's office, when Corbin was captured he had a firearm on him.

He was charged as a fugitive from justice and as a felon in possession of a firearm by Maine authorities. He is being held at the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta.

Corbin will be returned to Massachusetts where he will be sentenced on the child rape conviction. That is scheduled for May 12.

Authorities have said that Corbin's trial spanned six days, and he disappeared after three days. He was eventually convicted on eight counts of aggravated rape of a child on April 14 despite his absence. Ryan said that investigators were initially unable to locate him.

"During the trial, he fled," the district attorney said. "Investigators have not been able to locate him to date."

Since his arraignment back in 2017, Corbin had been free on $25,000 cash bail with a condition that he wear a GPS bracelet, stay away from the two victims and obey a curfew that allowed him only to go to and from work.

Ryan said he removed the GPS bracelet on North Street in Andover before disappearing.

Ryan said it’s rare for a defendant to stop showing up in the middle of a trial.

Corbin could be facing up to life in prison.

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