Prosecutor to Appeal Home Detention for Somerset Priest
By Paul Peirce
In a Johnstown courtroom Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Keith Pesto said the prosecution of a Somerset County Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing an orphaned boy in Honduras in 2009 could become a “nightmare case” because of procedural difficulties. During a detention hearing for the Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., Pesto outlined the potential trial issues: the time elapsed since the alleged crime, language barriers requiring interpreters for jurors, and the distance of potential witnesses in Central America. Before Pesto had finished speaking, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Haines told him that she will appeal his ruling that allows the 69-year-old priest to await trial under home detention. Pesto had ruled that Maurizio can be released from the Cambria County Jail to his farm in Windber because prosecutors had not shown he was a danger to the community or a flight risk. Maurizio, known to parishioners as “Father Joe,” was suspended as a priest at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City in September. A federal indictment accuses Maurizio of traveling to Honduras between Feb. 26 and March 13, 2009, to have sex with an underage boy. He is charged with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor. Maurizio has pleaded not guilty. Federal officials said the priest, under the guise of doing relief work through a self-run charity based in Johnstown, Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries, visited an orphanage numerous times between 1999 and 2009, promising candy and cash to boys to watch them shower, have sex or fondle them. Maurizio will stay in jail while Haines appeals Pesto's decision to U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson. The appeal had not been filed as of late Thursday, according to online court records. Pesto said his job was not to decide Maurizio's guilt or innocence but whether he is a danger to the local community or a flight risk. Pesto noted the alleged child sex offense occurred “not locally ... but several years ago in another country. There is no offer (by prosecutors) of any sexual conduct charges occurred locally.” Haines tried to prove that Maurizio should be detained until trial. She presented testimony from federal Homeland Security Agent David Coleman that federal investigators, who are now in Honduras, have discovered a second alleged victim. “This victim said the incidents started when he was approximately 12 to 13 years old,” Coleman said of the man, now in his early 20s. “He identified Joseph Maurizio by a photograph,” Coleman said. Haines said the priest could face charges on the new complaint in Honduras. Maurizio's attorney, Steven Passarello of Altoona, noted that federal officials investigated similar claims against the priest five years ago and filed no charges. Passarello said Maurizio's defense team in Honduras told them in 2009 that children there maintained the complaints were false. “If Father Maurizio is such a flight risk, why wouldn't he have fled five years ago when the complaints first arose?” Passarello asked. The indictment alleges Maurizio had at least one image of child pornography in his possession on Sept. 12, the day federal agents executed search warrants at his Windber home and the parish rectory. Pesto said he has been told that after agents confiscated computers, flash drives and cellphones from Maurizio's home and parish, “they only have one image.” “I have not seen the photograph, but I've been told it's of a young boy inflicted with polio who has since died, who was posed in some sort of provocative way,” he said. “It's been my experience dealing with those accused of child pornography that those deeply involved (in pornography) are compulsive and can't stay away from it and sometimes have thousands of images contained in their computer devices.” Pesto said the U.S. Attorney's Office failed to prove the suspended priest would flee or endanger the community. “Pretrial detention should not be pretrial punishment,” Pesto said. Pesto ruled that Maurizio could await trial on home detention, under electronic monitoring, if his personal bank accounts are frozen and he is blocked from accessing multiple church accounts. The magistrate noted that some of those actions must be taken before Maurizio could be released. Haines presented evidence that Maurizio had access to church-related accounts and an endowment for the priest's Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries in Johnstown, which have combined assets exceeding $1 million. However, Passarello called certified public accountant Thomas R. Seitz of Cambria County, who testified that the Humanitarian endowment containing more than $413,000 is administered by the Independent Catholic Foundation of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, and it could be liquidated only through the diocese. Richard Stern, finance chairman at Queen of Angels Parish, also testified that the diocese maintains control over its endowments. Stern said Maurizio could access only annual accumulated interest on those accounts, which may amount to a few thousand dollars, and he would need to get multiple signatures on any disbursements from them. Pesto ruled the priest would be denied Internet access and would have to surrender his passport. “We initially offered most of those (home detention) conditions,” Passarello said after the hearing. “Father Maurizio is extremely pleased with the decision. ... We anticipated most of the (home detention) conditions and proposed them.” Passarello dismissed the claims of the second man who told investigators he's a victim. “It's all sound and fury. There are no additional charges here or in Honduras,” he said. Paul Peirce is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at ppeirce@tribweb.com or 724-850-2860.
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