A New Hampshire man accused of sexually molesting three girls in Allenstown in 2005 is fighting extradition from Worcester, Mass., where he was arrested on Oct. 15.

Clyde Dauphinee, 43, is being held at the Worcester County House of Corrections on $100,000 cash bail while local officials in Allenstown appeal to the secretary of state and the Governor’s Office to bring him back to New Hampshire to be tried for the sex crimes. The three victims, whose identities will not be released because of the nature of the crimes, were younger than 13 at the time of the incidents.

Each was previously known to the suspect. Allenstown Police Chief Shaun Mulholland said it is unusual for a suspect to fight extradition under these circumstances.

The Police Department will now be forced to file a governor’s warrant to bring him back stateside, which requires signatures of the secretary of state and the governor of both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The process takes about 30 days, he said.

“Usually people just waive (extradition) because otherwise they would just be delaying the inevitable,” Mulholland said.

Dauphinee was arrested at 6:30 a.m. at a residence in Worcester, where police were forced to kick in the front door after he refused to answer. Mulholland said officers found the suspect hiding in a bedroom closet without any clothes on.

The arrest, which was aided by the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, brought an end to the longtime search for the suspect, which began in 2006.

U.S. Marshal Steve Monier said the arrest brings closure to a case his office has been working on for a long time.

“We’ve had the case for a while since (Chief Mulholland) asked us to help him. The task force is a resource open to any local force or agency who has an outstanding felony warrant for a fugitive and we give high priority to sex offenders,” Monier said.

“One of our deputies discovered it was probable (Dauphinee) was in the Worcester area.”

All three sex crimes that Dauphinee has been accused of occurred in Allenstown in 2005 at his former home at 98 Main St.

Mulholland said that building is a brick multi-unit complex on the border of the Allenstown and Pembroke line that police officials often refer to as heartbreak hotel for the amount of criminal activity associated with the building. The suspect previously resided at Holiday Acres, a mobile home park in Allenstown, and was employed as a sales clerk at the Irving gas station on Route 3, across the street from the Police Department.

If convicted, Dauphinee will face seven to 15 years for each crime, with additional penalties because of the young ages of the victims, Mulholland said.