Mark Francis Ford, a 64-year-old former Roman Catholic priest, has been indicted by a New Orleans grand jury on nine counts including aggravated rape of a child, rape of a person with a physical disability, and kidnapping. The charges relate to alleged offences between 2006 and 2008 against a boy aged 12 to 14. Ford, who has been held without bail for five months, faces mandatory life imprisonment if convicted.
According to police statements filed in court, Ford befriended the victim, who was grieving the deaths of his grandmother and father, through God's Special Children, a church programme for disabled youth that Ford co-founded. The boy, who has autism and a degenerative spinal condition requiring occasional wheelchair use, was allegedly shown pornography and sexually attacked on several occasions by Ford. The former priest reportedly ignored the boy's pleas and told him his family would not believe him if he reported the abuse.
Ford served as a Catholic priest from 1992 to 2007. The victim, legally considered a minor despite being older, came forward to police in November 2024. Following two forensic interviews, a warrant was issued in early September, and Ford was arrested in Portage, Indiana, and later transferred to New Orleans jail in October. His attorney, Ralph Whalen, entered a not guilty plea on Thursday.
The New Orleans district attorney's office, led by Jason Williams, described the case as 'deeply serious and disturbing', adding that Ford was accused of using his position to commit violent acts against a child with a disability. Ford is among several clergy members arrested amid the longstanding child sexual abuse scandal within the New Orleans Catholic church.
The archdiocese and its insurers agreed in early December to pay $305 million to settle abuse claims. The case against Ford comes shortly after the unrelated arrest of Teddi Page, a biology teacher at Academy of the Sacred Heart, under a state law prohibiting sexual conduct between educators and students.
