PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat
By David Hurst
dhurst@tribdem.com
A former Central City priest received more than 16 years behind bars for sex acts committed on Honduran orphans during mission trips.
U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson handed down the sentence Wednesday following a hearing that included passionate pleas for leniency by the Rev. Joseph Maurizio’s friends and family, while prosecutors urged the judge to give the suspended priest as many as 30 years behind bars for “shamelessly” preying on poor street boys.
Gibson’s sentence credited Maurizio for his prior military service, lack of a prior criminal history and decades of good deeds but also ordered him to register as a sex offender.
Maurizio, 70, would be in his mid-80s once released and would serve probation for the rest of his life, according to the ruling.
He is the former pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church in Central City.
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