ROCK HILL, S.C. -- You couldn't help but notice the strange feeling inside a York County courtroom Wednesday morning.

That's because everyone who was involved in a 2002 rape case was back together, finishing what they started more than seven years ago.

Jose Alvarenga, 26, was 19 when he raped a 15-year-old girl that he knew from Garinger High School in Charlotte.

On June 24, 2002, Alvarenga picked the girl up in his car and drove her to his apartment on Highway 160 in Fort Mill. He tied her up with cords from a Playstation video game and raped her repeatedly. He then made her take a shower to wash away the evidence. He later dumped her a few blocks from her Charlotte home.

York County sheriff's Detective Tim Hager arrested Alvarenga a day later, but he made bond and disappeared. Later, deputies learned Alvarenga had gone home to El Salvador, a country that does not extradite suspects to the United States. Hager thought the case was over right then and there.

"You just figure it'll never come to a conclusion," Hager said. “We convict him and never see him again. You'd retire and this case would still be sitting on the shelf."

However, things changed dramatically just two weeks ago when Alvarenga was found working at an east Charlotte McDonald's. Charlotte--Mecklenburg police said employees there called them over concerns that one worker was stealing money from the restaurant. That employee turned out to be Alvarenga. Police ran a check and realized he was a fugitive from York County.

"I was certainly surprised he came back here," said Deputy Solicitor Willy Thompson, who prosecuted Alvarenga and convicted him in his absence in August 2003.

In fact, Wednesday morning, Thompson, along with the same defense attorney and even the same judge, were back again for a long overdue sentencing.

Judge John C. Hayes had already written out a sentence for Alvarenga during that trial six years ago and sealed it in an envelope. He tore open the envelope and read the sentence of 20 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Eyewitness News went to the McDonald's on Albemarle Road at Farm Pond Lane to ask how Alvarenga could've been hired there as a convicted rapist and fugitive. The manager referred us to a corporate office, and we received a statement from John Hairston, the owner/operator of that McDonald's.

Part of it read: "The safety and well being of my customers and employees is a top priority. We take these matters very seriously. As part of my company policy, all potential candidates seeking employment are required to disclose any and all prior offenses on their employment application. Applications are reviewed, and any found not to be compliant with our employment policies are not accepted.

“We did our due diligence before hiring the employee in question. I was disappointed to learn the individual not only falsified the employment application, but the background check we conducted didn't pick up the prior conviction."

Wednesday morning in court, before Alvarenga was taken away to prison, he apologized for his crime.

"I'm sorry. I'm just sorry," he said.

However, members of the victim's family were not in the courtroom to hear him. They told prosecutors they never wanted to see Alvarenga again.

He is not eligible for parole and must register as a sex offender when he's released.