Nathaniel Morales Accused of Abusing Boys for Decades in Montgomery Co.

WJLA
May 13, 2014

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/05/nathaniel-morales-trial-begins-jury-selection-process-103048.html

The jury has been selected, and opening arguments began around 3 p.m. in the sexual assault case of Nathaniel Morales, accused of sexually abusing boys for decades in Montgomery County.

A mother broke her silence 26 years after Morales allegedly molested her then-teenage son.

"To me, he's a poster child for everything a predator could be," she said.

During the late 1980’s, Morales was a respected member at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg. Described in court as “charismatic, affable, and the life of the party,” Morales lived in the basement of this Rockville home – where he reportedly molested the family’s two teenage sons.

One victim, now 39 years old, testified:

“I recall a number of times, while I was sleeping in the basement, waking up to him kneeling by my side, touching me…He mentioned he had these urges that he needed to satisfy one way or another."

He continued: “It began weighing on me heavily. I began to shut down as a person, I had to decide – do I value my own privacy over another child being victimized? I decided it was worth doing.”

His mother, Ann Cook, said: "Not only do you screw up someone's mind and sense of self and sense of dignity, but you interfere with their ability to have faith. To me, that just takes the highest form of what is despicable."

Nathaniel Morales is claiming he has memory loss and does not remember any of the alleged events.