Rapist on run captured in UK

A British man convicted of child molestation in the United States fled to the UK after tampering with his electronic monitoring tag. Last night he was back behind bars.

A Scotland Yard extradition squad apprehended Raymond Masterman, 50, last Friday at a relative's house in Essex. He had changed his appearance and forged papers in an apparent plan to resettle in Australia.

Masterman was convicted last year in the US of raping an eight-year- old girl and of twocharges of indecent assault and corrupting minors after he raped a friend of his daughter's and fondled two other girls who were staying with his children from 1990 to 1992.

The Philadelphia assistant district attorney Liz Jobes said Masterman has a knack for electronics and rigged his monitor so it still sent the normal signals even though he had fled.

With his sentence of 11 to 22 years for the rape and molestation, coupled with a possible four years for escape, Masterman now faces about 15 to 30 years in prison.