Child rape suspect arraigned after being on the run for 23 years

More than 20 years after fleeing the Boston area, a former Dorchester man was arraigned Tuesday on child rape charges.

John J. Hartin, 46, was held on $1 million cash bail for five counts of rape of a child, according to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office. Should he post bail, Hartin will be ordered to wear a GPS monitor and stay away from the victims, witnesses and all children under 18.

Prosecutors say Hartin raped two boys, ages 6 and 9, between 1991 and 1992. One child was the family member of Hartin’s romantic partner and the other was that child’s friend, according to prosecutors.

“I am a completely different person,” Hartin, who pleaded not guilty, told agents, according to The Boston Globe.“I realized what I had done was wrong when I got on the plane in Boston.”

Hartin was indicted on July 16, 1993 and fled the area when a warrant for his arrest was issued out of Suffolk Superior Court, according to the district attonrney’s office. For moer than 20 years, local, state and federal authorities were working to locate and apprehend Hartin.

Officials conducted media campaigns, offered a cash reward, and interviewed friends and family in their search for Hartin.

On June 13 of this year, Hartin was arrested after being found in North Carolina living under the name “Jay Matthew Carter.” Boston Police, Suffolk prosecutors, the FBI and U.S. Marshals assisted in the investigation.

“There is no span of miles or years that will keep us from speaking for these young victims,” Conley said in a statement. “They should know, like survivors everywhere, that our foremost goal is to see justice done on their behalf, no matter how long it might take.”

Hartin is due back in court on Sept. 20.