NEW ORLEANS — A man who once served in the administrations of two governors has been arrested on allegations that he molested a child whom he met while ministering to disabled children in as a Roman Catholic priest during a previous career, according to authorities and an attorney representing the accuser.

Mark Francis Ford, 64, faces charges of first-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping, sexual battery and indecent behavior with a juvenile after federal agents arrested him on Thursday in Portage, , on a warrant obtained by police in New Orleans, Brian Fair of the US Marshals Service said.

Ford remained in custody on Friday at the jail in Portage – the city where he resides – with no bail set, awaiting extradition to New Orleans, whose local Catholic church has spent years being roiled

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