DETROIT — A man convicted of raping two Michigan children has been arrested in California, more than two decades after he fled Michigan following his parole.

The U.S. Marshals Service says 71-year-old James Meese was arrested by federal agents last week in central California. The Detroit Free Press reports Meece is in federal custody in California, awaiting extradition to Michigan.

He faces federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for fleeing Michigan in 1999, months after he was released on parole. He was convicted in 1991 in Delta County of criminal sexual conduct charges for raping his girlfriend’s two daughters from the Upper Peninsula.