Trial Opens in Johnstown for Suspended Catholic Priest on Child Sex Charges
By Paul Peirce
A Somerset County Catholic priest used his power and prestige as a benefactor and fundraiser for a Honduras mission for orphans to molest teenage boys between 2004 to 2009, a prosecutor told a federal jury Thursday in Johnstown. The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., 70, of Windber was known as the “money man” at the mission, prosecutor Amy E. Larson of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity section of the federal Department of Justice told jurors. “His capacity as one of the largest benefactors of the mission gave him a tremendous amount of power to do whatever he wanted. Rev. Joseph Maurizio enjoyed that power and prestige. ... Evidence will show that he used that power to commit various sexual acts with minor boys as young as 13 years old at the mission,” Larson said in her opening statement. Maurizio was pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City until he was placed on leave a year ago when arrested. He is charged with molesting a boy and possessing child pornography. A second indictment in April added charges involving two other boys and alleged the priest illegally sent $8,000 to a charity to help facilitate the trips, which ended in 2009. Maurizio denies the allegations and has pleaded not guilty. Judge Kim R. Gibson gave instructions to the jury of seven men and five women Thursday afternoon before they heard opening statements. Four alternate jurors were selected because the trial is expected to last three weeks, Gibson said. During the trial, Larson told jurors they will hear from three alleged victims who were teens when they were abused by Maurizio when he visited the mission. Other witnesses will describe sexual acts that Maurizio photographed, she said. She said the government will have interpreters for the Spanish-speaking witnesses. She warned jurors that some testimony will be distasteful, but the victims will testify they did what they had to to survive. “You'll meet some of the young boys who are now young adults. You'll hear how (Maurizio) did unspeakable things to them. He callously abused them to satisfy his sexual urges,” Larson said. “What he did was criminal. He needs to be held accountable,” she added. Maurizio's attorney, Steven P. Passarello of Altoona, said the priest “is falsely accused.” He asked jurors to use common sense to sort through the facts. He noted that the FBI investigated abuse allegations at the mission in 2009 and filed no criminal charges. “They interviewed the same exact witnesses, victims, and you know what? They closed the case with no charges,” Passarello said. He said the current charges arose after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security received a complaint in 2013. Passarello told jurors that Maurizio is a Navy veteran who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, was honored by federal authorities for his missionary work and has been a priest for 28 years. “He helped those kids. He was a good priest,” Passarello said. Passarello said when federal agents searched Maurizio's computers and belongings last year, sorting through “thousands of pictures ... all they could come up with are two pictures that may come close to child pornography.” “Everyone on mission trips take pictures. But that doesn't make it a crime,” he said. “Child sexual abuse is one of the most despicable crimes there is. Just as vile is to be falsely accused ... Father Joseph Maurizio is not guilty,” he said. The first two witnesses to testify were Laura Long-Valdez, a former student at St. Francis College in Loretto in Cambria County, who works as a flight attendant and lives in Georgia, and a Central City nurse, Kimberly Knapp, who is a member at Our Lady Queen of Angels. Both volunteered at the mission that was the beneficiary of Maurizio's self-run nonprofit, Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries. The women identified photographs of teenage boys at the orphanage to whom Maurizio appeared to show favoritism. Long-Valdez said one boy was chastised by other children at the orphanage because Maurizio would give him gifts such as clothing and shoes on his first mission trips. Knapp, who made three trips to Honduras with Maurizio, testified that she and her husband, Steve, stopped accompanying the priest to Honduras because of concern over where contributions were going. She said her husband helped to build a bakery at the mission and the receipts showed it cost about $900. When “Father Joe” returned to Central City, “he told parishioners it cost $35,000 to build.” Knapp said Maurizio would often “drink alcohol” at the mission, “and some of the boys were going through detox.” Under cross-examination by Passarello, both women said they never saw Maurizio have sexual contact with a child. Maurizio has been held in the Cambria County Jail since his arrest Sept. 25. The trial will resume Friday morning.
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