A former Catholic priest who fled the United States after allegations he abused children in New Mexico was convicted on Wednesday by a U.S. jury of child sexual abuse, prosecutors said. After an eight-day trial, a federal jury in Albuquerque, New Mexico, found Arthur Perrault guilty of six counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact with a minor, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney John Anderson. The conviction came as the Catholic Church reels from crises worldwide involving sexual abuse of minors and U.S. states launch their own investigations into thousands of such accusations.