Attorneys expect to a surge in foreign sex-crime cases

By Kathy Mellott
Tribune-Democrat
October 14, 2014

http://www.tribdem.com/news/article_e9d6d1ee-5417-11e4-beeb-bf5cd06aeefc.html?mode=print

Mitchell Garabedian

A Central City priest is charged with sex crimes involving children in Honduras, and attorneys expect a surge in allegations of kids in poorer countries suffering sexual exploitation.

Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian said global child abuse is gaining more attention from law enforcement.

“We’re just now seeing what’s going on in the Third World,” Garabedian said. “The sexually abused victims in Third-World countries are just now coming forward.”

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arraigned Tuesday in Federal Court in Johnstown, accused of engaging in illicit conduct in foreign places and possessing material depicting sexual exploitation of a minor.

Garabedian is representing alleged victims of sexual abuse at the hands of former Bishop McCort Catholic High School teacher Brother Stephen Baker.

Garabedian said Tuesday that he currently represents children sexually molested by priests or Roman Catholic church officials in 12 countries, including nearly 100 victims in Haiti.

The spotlight being shone on child sex allegations in the United States is giving those oppressed in other countries the courage to speak up, Garabedian said.

“They needed to see others coming forward,” he said.

Garabedian and other attorneys said they have not been contacted by any individuals locally claiming abuse by Maurizio, although Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Haines last month said authorities have received tips that there may be victims here as well as in Honduras.

Maurizio pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was returned to the Cambria County Prison. He was removed from his duties at Our Lady Queen of Angels in September.

The priest was arrested Sept. 24, nine days after a raid on the parish rectory and his farmhouse in Paint Township.

Federal officials said they acted after receiving complaints out of Honduras, where Maurizio went for several weeks at a time from 1999 to 2009.

He was working for a nonprofit organization in Honduras when he allegedly offered boys items such as money and candy for various sexual acts, according to the 11-page criminal complaint.

Altoona attorney Richard Serbin, who also represents alleged Baker victims, said the allegations out of Honduras should come as no surprise.

“I knew this type of thing was going on,” Serbin said. “I remember thinking how perfect for them. It’s perfect for the pervert and tragic for the victim.”

The kids live in impoverished countries and they are looking for help, he said.

In many cases, the priests and other church workers are providing the children with food, clothing, shelter and medicine – while the parents of the victims are often helpless and poverty-stricken, the attorneys said.

“At the same time, the priest is held up in great esteem as someone who can do no wrong,” Garabedian said.

Serbin expressed concern about what type of supervision, if any, is provided for priests and church workers on the trips to poorer Latin American countries.

Often, the attorneys said, there is little government oversight of such mission programs.

Garabedian wondered: Who were the superiors of Father Maurizio and why didn’t they take action?

“It’s time for the church to come clean and act transparently,” Garabedian said. “It needs to produce all of the documentation in its possession about what officials knew and when they knew it.”