Fugitive Stephen Carruthers was arrested after crashing his car while driving in the south-west of the country.
The 43-year-old, who has been on the run for almost three years, is wanted by Cumbria Police on suspicion of 18 counts of making indecent photographs of a child.
Curruthers, originally from Bury, was on the National Crime Agency's (NCA) most-wanted fugitives list.
He is believed to have been living under a false name in a cottage in the town of Saint-Denis-Catus since he first went on the run in March 2014.
Cops say he was finally captured this week after detectives got a "huge slice of luck" when he smashed his vehicle.
The suspected paedo was reportedly taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Cahors after the crash on Saturday with minor injuries.
But checks by the French authorities revealed his true identity and cops immediately went to arrest him.
Yesterday, he appeared in a court in Agen and was remanded in custody. He is expected to be extradited back to the UK within a week.
He was originally arrested in March 2014 at a property in the Lake District town of Ambleside.
Cops allegedly found a computer of his contained 5,332 indecent images of children, including some that showed youngsters being sexually abused.
Carruthers was bailed to appear at a police station at a later date, but fled the country instead.
Matt Burton, head of the NCA's International Crime Bureau, said: "The majority of our most-wanted fugitives are captured as a result of intelligence-led operations, but with Carruthers his days on the run ended thanks to a huge slice of luck.
"Following the car crash, the French authorities carried out checks that revealed his real identity and enabled them to execute the EAW. Now after being at large for nearly three years he will be returned to the UK to face justice."
