Fugitive sex offender Michael Andrew Stephens, on the run from Hawaii authorities for 15 years, has been captured in Mexico, the U.S. Marshal's Service announced today.

Stevens, 56, was convicted in 1990 of sexually assaulting three teenaged boys and was awaiting trial on similar charges in a new case in 1993 when he disappeared.

The teenaged victim in the new assault case sued Stevens and won a $550,000 default judgment against him here in 1996.

Stephens fled the state after faking a "disappearance" at sea.

Stephens applied for a U.S. passport in 1996 at a U.S. Consulate in Mexico, using his birth name, Michael Andrew Kulhanek, that allowed him to obtain a work permit in Mexico, according to the Marshal's Service.

Stephens was designated a "major case" by the Marshals Service in 2006.

In April of this year, Stephens was featured on the "60 seconds of shame" segment of the television show America's Most Wanted, generating several tips and reported sightings of the fugitive.

On Oct. 3, America's Most Wanted received a tip that he owned a business in Zihuatanego, Mexico and lived nearby, according to the Marshals Service.

Marshals and Mexico Customs officials then arrested him and are holding him now for deportation to Houston, Texas. From there he will be extradited back to Hawaii for trial on the outstanding sex assault case, accordng to the Prosecutor's Office here.

Stevens was convicted in 1990 for kidnaping and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy, but over the objections of prosecutors, he was sentenced to five years of probation.

That sentence was granted after friends and business associates of Stevens wrote glowing letters of recommendation on his behalf to the sentencing judge.

In 1993, he was indicted on new charges of second- and fourth-degree sex assault and promoting liquor to a minor.

Lindblad forfeited a $100,000 bond after Stephens fled.

A $500,000 warrant for his arrest has been pending since early 1996.