ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a former New Mexico priest's request to be released from jail as he awaits trial.
The judge's decision Tuesday in Albuquerque comes after attorneys for 80-year-old Arthur J. Perrault sought his release to a halfway house. They argued that Perrault suffers from health issues and should not remain detained.
Perrault was taken into U.S. custody last month in Morocco.
He is facing charges of criminal aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact. The charges stem from assaults that federal authorities say happened decades ago at Kirtland Airforce Base and Santa Fe National Cemetery.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Perrault had been a chaplain at the Albuquerque base, and a priest at a local parish.
He vanished from New Mexico in 1992. Authorities located him in Morocco last year.