Lawyer wants New Mexico priest in abuse case out of prison

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS, Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A lawyer for a former New Mexico priest who fled the U.S. decades ago amid allegations of child sex abuse is seeking his release from federal prison.
Defense attorney Samuel Winder filed an appeal late last week asking a federal judge to reverse a decision to detain Arthur Perrault until his trial on sexual abuse.
A federal magistrate ordered the 80-year-old Perrault held pending trial after deeming him a flight risk.
Court documents say Perrault vanished in 1992, just days before an attorney filed two lawsuits against the archdiocese alleging Perrault had sexually assaulted seven children at his parish. He was located last year in Morocco.
Winder wants the Connecticut-born Perrault released to an Albuquerque halfway house under strict conditions.
Winder says Perrault suffers from diabetes and chronic hypertension.