Altoona-Johnstown priest pleads not guilty to child-sex charges

PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

October 14, 2014

A Somerset County priest charged with sexually abusing children in Honduras appeared briefly today in U.S. District Court in Johnstown for his arraignment and entered a standard not guilty plea.

Rev. Joseph Maurizio, 69, was indicted last week on child-sex charges and possession of child pornography after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

He is being held in the Cambria County Prison pending a detention hearing. Last week, the U.S. attorney’s office requested he be detained pending trial as a flight risk, and a magistrate today ordered that he will remain behind bars while his lawyer and federal prosecutors gather information about nearly $1 million in various bank accounts to which the priest has access.

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