PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
By Liz Zemba
Monday, Oct. 27, 2014
Updated 8 hours ago
A Somerset County priest accused of traveling to Honduras to have sex with a boy used a translation app on a smartphone to ask Spanish-speaking boys whether they were sexually active or wanted to come to the United States with him, according to a search warrant application.
A federal grand jury indicted the Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., 69, former pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City, on charges of traveling to Honduras to have sex with an orphaned teen boy and possessing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.
Defense attorney Steven Passarello has repeatedly said that the suspended priest is innocent.
A federal magistrate will hold a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Johnstown to determine whether Maurizio will be detained while awaiting trial. He has been held in the Cambria County Jail since his arrest Sept. 25.
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