NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A former New Orleans priest has been arrested in connection with the alleged serial rape, beginning in 2004, of a child with disabilities.

Mark Ford, 65, was booked into the Orleans Justice Center this week on counts of first-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping, sexual battery and indecent behavior with juveniles.

New Orleans police say Ford was arrested after a woman told police last November her adult son had been sexually assaulted by Ford during his childhood. A detective spoke with the victim’s mother who said Ford had been a minister affiliated with St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, which the family attended at the time.

Detectives then sent the victim, who is permanently recognized as a juvenile due to his physical and intellectual disabilities, to a forensic i

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