Tahoe rapist nabbed after 12 years in Philippines

Tuesday, April 21, 1998 | 12:01 p.m.

Donald Alan Diehl, 35, was met Saturday by FBI agents and an El Dorado County district attorney's investigator as he got off a plane in San Francisco.

Authorities believe Diehl has been residing in the Philippines ever since he fled in September 1986 after pleading guilty to one count of oral copulation and one count of sexual intercourse with a minor.

Diehl, facing a maximum prison term of three years and eight months, disappeared after a judge gave him a two-day pass before he was to turn himself in for a presentence review.

Prosecutors asked the FBI for assistance in 1991, and agents located Diehl in the Philippines because of his involvement in a civil lawsuit.

The U.S. government revoked Diehl's passport and the Philippine government deported him. Diehl was booked into jail on his original charge, and could face additional charges because of his fugitive status and failure to appear.

Sean O'Brien, El Dorado County chief assistant district attorney, said Diehl's first court appearance probably will be Friday.