PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
By Liz Zemba
Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014
The attorney for a Somerset County priest accused of sexually abusing an orphaned boy in Honduras in 2009 wants jurors to be barred from hearing evidence that a grand jury either never heard or rejected.
Altoona attorney Steven Passarello filed the pretrial motion in U.S. District Court in Johnstown on behalf of the Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., former pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City.
In a separate motion, Passarello is seeking to sever the two criminal charges against Maurizio, which could force separate trials.
Maurizio is charged with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor. A federal indictment accuses Maurizio of traveling to Honduras between Feb. 26 and March 13, 2009, to have sex with an underage boy.
Maurizio, who has pleaded not guilty, has been held in the Cambria County Jail since Sept. 24.
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