Ex-children's TV host pleads not guilty on sex charges

ALEXANDRIA, La. -- A former children's show host has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from allegations that he sexually abused children during a Louisiana camping trip in 1979.

KALB-TV reports that 76-year-old Frank John Selas III entered the plea Monday during his arraignment in a Rapides Parish courtroom.

Selas' attorney, Mike Small, says his client is innocent.

In the late 1970s, Selas hosted the "Mr. Wonder" show on KNOE-TV in northern Louisiana. He allegedly fled to Brazil in 1979 and vanished for decades after parents accused him of abusing their children on a camping trip in central Louisiana.

Selas was arrested in San Diego in January and indicted in February on two counts of aggravated rape and other charges relating to one alleged victim. Last Thursday, sheriff's deputies escorted him on a flight back to Louisiana.