A priest who was captured after fleeing the U.S. decades ago is facing a federal trial on charges that he sexually abused a New Mexico boy in the early 1990s at an Air Force base and veterans’ cemetery.
Arthur Perrault, a one-time pastor in Albuquerque, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual abuse and others counts. His trial is set to begin Monday in Santa Fe with jury selection.
The church sent Perrault to New Mexico in the 1960s for treatment at a center for pedophile priests.
Federal authorities have said in court documents that he had as many as eight other victims. But the charges against him only involve an 11-year-old altar boy.
Perrault was returned to the United States in September after his arrest in Morocco.
His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
