U.S. marshals took a Portage man who is a former priest into custody late last month on a warrant from New Orleans charging him with several felony counts of child sexual abuse and kidnapping, an official said.

Mark Francis Ford, 64, has been at the Porter County Jail since Sept. 25, confirmed Sgt. Ben McFalls, public information officer for the Porter County Sheriff’s Department. He did not know when the extradition proceedings for Ford might take place.

The New Orleans Police Department Special Victims Section issued a warrant for Ford’s arrest on Sept. 9, said Brian Fair, deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in a phone interview. Marshals from the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force assisted with Ford’s arrest.

The warrant charges, all felonies, include fou

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