A man found guilty of raping three children between 2004 and 2005 has lost his second try to overturn his conviction.

A state Superior Court panel has upheld a Schuylkill County judge's denial of an appeal by Russell R. Rehrig.The court's decision upholds President Judge William E. Baldwin's May 5, 2015, dismissal of Rehrig's quest for a new trial.The state court panel ruled that Rehrig failed to file his appeal in a timely manner.The Superior Court panel, composed of Judges Jack A. Panella, Sallie Updyke Mundy, and Correale F. Stevens, also agreed that Rehrig's Post Conviction Relief Act appeal was baseless.Rehrig argued in his appeal that his lawyer "abandoned him" after Rehrig fled to Atlantic City, New Jersey, the day before his September 2007 trial.He was captured a year later after being found hiding in a parking garage there.Rehrig, now 59, was tried in absentia, with Baldwin presiding. On Sept. 5, 2007, he was found guilty of 10 counts of rape, five counts of rape of a child, six counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, 13 counts of statutory sexual assault, two counts of aggravated indecent assault, two counts of indecent assault, 14 counts of corruption of minors and three counts of terroristic threats.On Jan. 2, 2008, Baldwin sentenced him to 42 to 84 years in state prison. Rehrig was also ordered to register as a sexual predator for life under Megan's Law.After Rehrig was caught, Thomas J. Pellish was appointed to review the case for any possible legal actions still available.During the March 2015 hearings, Pellish testified that he reviewed the transcripts and found no basis for appeal or to raise a claim of ineffective representation. He talked with Rehrig about his review, and Rehrig did not ask him to take any action.On Dec. 5, 2013, Rehrig filed a petition alleging that Pellish had abandoned him, and asking the court to allow him to file the Post-Conviction Relief Act appeal, which he said should have been filed originally.The court appointed him a new lawyer, Michael J. Fiorillo, who on Feb. 18, 2015, filed the PCRA petition.A PCRA petition must be filed within one year of sentencing. But Rehrig had argued that the one-year deadline could be extended if the "petitioner proves that the facts upon which the claim is predicated were unknown to (him) and could not have been ascertained by the exercise of due diligence."Under that exception, the petitioner has 60 days to file from the date the claim could have been presented.Rehrig had argued that the exception applied to him because at the time he filed the petition, he became aware that his attorney had abandoned him.In his ruling, Baldwin pointed out that Pellish had reviewed Rehrig's case and found no grounds for appeal. Further, Rehrig never asked him to do anything else.The Superior Court's 10-page ruling followed similar reasoning to that of Baldwin's.Tamaqua police charged Rehrig with committing the crimes in the borough and in Rehrig's Allentown workplace between Aug. 25, 2004, and Aug. 25, 2005.The children testified during the trial that Rehrig threatened to kill their parents if they told. One child finally told a relative what had happened. That relative went to police.