A former Roman Catholic priest in New Orleans is accused of exploiting the grief of a disabled boy to sexually abuse him over several years, according to court records. Mark Francis Ford, 64, was extradited from Indiana to New Orleans and made an initial court appearance on Wednesday, where a magistrate commissioner ordered him held without bail.
The allegations centre on a boy who met Ford at around age 10 in 2004 through a programme for disabled youth called God's Special Children, which Ford co-founded. The boy was mourning the deaths of his grandmother and father when Ford, a priest from 1992 to 2007, befriended him, visiting his home to play video games and give guitar lessons, police said.
Police allege Ford then showed pornography to the boy, who has a degenerative spinal condition and is on the autism spectrum. When the child expressed discomfort, Ford allegedly instructed him to keep it secret from his mother. Several sexual attacks are said to have followed at the child's home, with Ford warning that his family would not believe him if he spoke out. On one occasion, an aunt walked in shortly after an attack but failed to notice the child's distress, according to police.
The accuser, legally still considered a minor for the purposes of the case, came forward to police in November 2024. Following two forensic interviews, a warrant was issued on 9 September charging Ford with four counts of first-degree rape, two counts of sexual battery, two counts of indecent behaviour with a juvenile and two counts of second-degree kidnapping. The alleged offences took place between 2004 and 2014.
Ford was arrested on 25 September in Portage, Indiana, where he was residing. He waived extradition at a hearing on 1 October and was booked into New Orleans jail late on Tuesday. He faces mandatory life imprisonment if convicted. The district attorney's office said it was preparing a 'strong, evidence-based prosecution' and called the allegations 'deeply serious and disturbing'.
