PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review
By Paul Peirce
Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015
A Somerset County priest was found guilty Tuesday of having sex with three boys at a Honduran orphanage he supported through his nonprofit foundation, possessing child pornography and transferring money outside the U.S. for illicit sexual activities.
The Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio Jr., 70, showed no reaction when the verdict was read in a federal courtroom in Johnstown.
Maurizio’s two sisters and two nieces, who attended every day of the trial, sat in the courtroom with parishioners of his former parish, Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Central City.
The women gasped as the guilty verdicts were read, then wept.
Jurors deliberated for more than 12 hours over two days and found Maurizio guilty of five of the eight counts against him. Two additional counts involving the money transfer were dismissed.
The priest’s three accusers and another witness who traveled from Central America to testify were brought into the courtroom, where they sat behind prosecutors to hear the verdict.
They had no reaction as their interpreter whispered to them in Spanish as the verdict was read.
A parishioner who left the courthouse after the verdict said she and other supporters were “obviously disappointed.”
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