A Louisiana man wanted since April in the rapes of two St. Tammany Parish girls was arrested in Shelby County on Feb. 18.

U.S. Marshals arrested Francis Eugene Reed, 40, at a residence in Chelsea, where he was working as an electrician on a construction site.

Reed is accused of repeatedly raping two girls for two years, beginning when the girls were 9 and 13.

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Reed disappeared in April after sheriff&8217;s deputies obtained warrants for his arrest.

A task force of Louisiana law enforcement agencies was tipped off in January that Reed was living in Shelby County. U.S. Marshals arrested him without incident at a home he was sharing with other construction contractors.

&8220;We were able to track him through normal investigative means and tips,&8221; said Deputy Brian Fair, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal&8217;s Office in New Orleans.

As of Tuesday morning, Reed was being held in the Shelby County Jail as a fugitive. He has waived his extradition to St. Tammany and is waiting for Louisiana authorities to pick him up within the next 21 days, according to Capt. Chris Corbell, spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff&8217;s Office.

Reed faces two counts of aggravated rape and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Under Louisiana law, prosecutors may seek the death penalty because one of the girls was younger than 12