UNITED KINGDOM
ABC News
PITTSBURGH — Sep 8, 2015
By JOE MANDAK Associated Press
Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday for a suspended western Pennsylvania Catholic priest charged with traveling to Honduras to have sex with poor street children during missionary trips.
The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., has been jailed since last fall when federal prosecutors in Johnstown accused him of molesting one boy and possessing child pornography. A new indictment in April added charges involving two other boys and that the Somerset County priest illegally sent $8,000 to a charity to help facilitate the trips which ended in 2009.
The 70-year-old priest has denied the allegations and has continued to be supported by some members of Our Lady Queen of Angels, the church he pastored before being placed on leave because of the charges.
U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson is expected to rule on two key issues before testimony begins Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors want to use an expert witness to describe the effects of sexual abuse on children, so prosecutors can argue that Maurizio’s victims were similarly affected. The judge also has ruled that prosecutors can call a witness, now an adult, who also claims he was molested by Maurizio while just a boy, even though he’s not one of the three alleged victims in the case.
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