Central City Priest Facing Federal Charges of Sexual Abuse, Pornography

By Maria Miller
WJAC
September 25, 2014

http://www.wjactv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/-central-city-priest-facing-federal-charges-sexual-abuse-pornography-3774.shtml

There are new allegations after a local church was raided and its priest placed on leave earlier this month. On Thursday, Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested without incident at his Windber home and federal charges of child exploitation were filed against him. Authorities allege he sexually abused children on mission trips to foreign countries dating back to at least 2001.

They're serious allegations and the federal charges filed Thursday afternoon are graphic. They don't only include allegations of child pornography; they include descriptions of several explicit sexual acts with children -- children Maurizio was supposed to be helping.

The charges also speak of an investigation dating back to 2009 that was either buried or never followed up on.

Pictures of Maurizio performing mass at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City were still posted on the church website Thursday afternoon. That's where he served as pastor for more than a decade until two weeks ago, when the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown placed him on leave after investigators with the Department of Homeland Security raided the church and Maurizio's home in Windber.

Just one week later, Maurizio is facing serious federal charges.

Authorities said Maurizio ran a nonprofit organization for many years known as Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries (HIM). He would travel to impoverished Central American countries on mission trips. 6 News traveled along on one of his visits to Honduras in 1999.

It was on similar missions that authorities allege Maurizio took advantage of impoverished children, mainly young boys, offering them luxuries they weren't typically accustomed to: money, toys and candy, in exchange for nude photos and on some occasions sexual acts performed in front of him and with him, the affidavit said. As recently as last week the website for Maurizio's ministry showed thousands of pictures of him and the children he went to help. But on Thursday, the site had been taken down. Homeland Security Investigations released this statement: "Today, ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents arrested Joseph Maurizio Jr., on allegations of child sexual exploitation. Maurizio was arrested this afternoon without incident at a Windber residence. He will remain in custody pending an initial hearing in federal court." The investigation into Maurizio's alleged crimes is still active, but of the items seized from his farm house in Windber and the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels, court documents said images of child pornography were found on a loose hard drive. A forensic analysis of other items is ongoing. The charges are nearly a dozen pages long and detail graphic allegations and detailed accounts from at least three alleged victims. Documents said those accounts were taken by authorities during a trip to Honduras this past July as they interviewed staff members of Maurizio's nonprofit and others who formerly lived there. According to the charges, those accounts are in addition to at least 10 other incidents that happened in the early 2000s that were part of an internal investigation conducted in 2009 by board members of his own charity. Documents said those board members even confronted Maurizio, who allegedly told them the allegations were a plot by the Honduran government to keep him out of the child care centers for political reasons. Documents went on to say that he tried to dissuade the board from taking the investigation to the bishop. It's not clear if the diocese was made aware of an investigation in 2009. 6 News has asked the diocese, which said it's not yet able to comment on the charges or the investigation, but made it clear that Bishop Mark Bartchak was not with the diocese at that time. Altoona attorney’s Steve Passarello and Dan Kiss are representing Maurizio. Passarello told 6 News late Thursday that they became aware of the search warrants about 10 days ago but were unaware authorities would be filing charges so quickly. He said authorities were supposed to notify them first so that Maurizio could voluntarily surrender, but said that did not happen. Passarello told 6 News the allegations against Maurizio are the same ones made five years ago by two Honduras-based organizations. He said his believe is they were made in retaliation after Maurizio severed ties with the organizations. Passerellos also said the allegations were investigated by authorities in Honduras, who found the statements made by the alleged victims were not credible, saying they were either garnered by coercion or bribery. “For some reason they have resurfaced but are substantially the same allegations with the same alleged victims,” he said.