John Joseph Hartin: FBI asks for public’s help in manhunt

Federal authorities are renewing their efforts and using social media to hunt down a Dorchester man who has been on the run for nearly two decades after being accused of sexually abusing two young boys.

John Joseph Hartin was charged in 1993 with five counts of statutory rape of a child on two young boys he befriended in the Boston area.

“John Hartin has been on the run for 18 years, much too long for the victims of his alleged crimes,” FBI Special Agent Kristina Norris said in a statement.

Besides using traditional means of attracting interest in Hartin’s case — offering a new $25,000 reward for information — federal agents are taking to social media.

The FBI’s Boston Division is, for the first time, using limited Facebook ads to search for a fugitive, the agency said.

The Facebook ads, along with digital billboards, were slated to start running yesterday. Hartin was featured on a local TV station earlier this month, and some new leads have come in, an FBI spokesman said yesterday.

Hartin, 42, is 5-foot-8 and weighed about 200 pounds when he was last seen. He should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information can call 800-CALL-FBI.