PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat
By Randy Griffith
rgriffith@tribdem.com
A 22-year-old man identified only as Erick said he was loading supplies for the Honduras orphanage he called home when the Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. touched him in a sexual manner.
“I got scared,” Erick testified through an interpreter Friday during Maurizio’s trial in U.S. District Court in Johnstown.
Later the same day in 2009, he said, Maurzio touched him again while the two were in a pickup truck. That time, Maurizio asked him to masturbate for him.
“Father Joe” gave him money after each incident, Erick testified.
Maurizio, 60, is accused of using his charity, Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries Inc., and its funds to travel to the ProNino complexes in Honduras to prey on children. Federal counts include possession of child pornography and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.