FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP) – A convicted child rapist who fled town in 2004 during his trial was arrested Wednesday leaving his apartment in Gretna, La., authorities said.

Marlon Morris, 30, formerly of Framingham, was put on the State Police’s “most wanted” list in 2004 when he walked away from his trial in Middlesex Superior Court 20 minutes before the jury found him guilty on two counts of forcible rape of a child and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Prosecutors said Morris repeatedly raped and assaulted the 13-year-old female victim at a residence in Framingham on Nov. 17, 2002. He was arrested two days later. When he fled, Morris was free on bond.

Morris had been living and working as a construction worker in New Orleans since January, state police said.

The State Police, working with the U.S. Marshals Service in Boston, received a tip that Morris was in the New Orleans area after the television show “America’s Most Wanted” aired a story about Morris on Tuesday. The program had featured the Morris case several times in recent months. Police say Morris was carrying a New York State driver’s license with an alias.

Morris was being held in the Jefferson Parish Jail in Louisiana. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday as a fugitive from justice at the Magistrate’s Court in Jefferson Parish, La. If Morris waives rendition, the Middlesex Sheriff’s Department will transport him to Massachusetts, where he faces sentencing.

AP-ES-08-09-06 1740EDT