Convicted Child Rapist Who Fled MA During Trial Gets 40-50 Years

WOBURN, MA — A Methuen man convicted of child rape last month who fled during his trial was sentenced to 40-50 years behind bars Thursday in Middlesex Superior Court.

Stephen Corbin, 38, disappeared on the third day of his trial for raping both a 14 and 15-year-old girl on multiple occasions. The assaults took place at both a Lexington residence and a motel in Bedford in 2017.

On April 14, Corbin was convicted on eight counts of aggravated rape of a child during a trial. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said Corbin cut off his GPS monitoring device and took off after the third day of his six-day trial.

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

Last week, Corbin was found in Farmingdale, Maine, and was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals. According to Maine police officers, U.S. Marshals found a loaded firearm on him while he was being taken into custody.

"It's relatively rare for someone to just disappear in the middle of a trial," Ryan said in the wake of Corbin's arrest. He was being held at the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta and will return to Massachusetts where he will be sentenced on the child rape conviction Thursday.

Corbin is now being charged as a fugitive from justice and as a felon in possession of a firearm by Maine police in addition to the rape charges.

Corbin could be facing life in prison.