PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC
Updated: Thursday, September 25 2014
By: Maria Miller
CENTRAL CITY, Pa. — 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.
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