Joseph D. Maurizio, Jr., Illicit Sexual Conduct in Foreign Places, Pennsylvania 2009

Priest Indicted for Sex Crimes in Honduras

A Pennsylvania priest has been indicted for traveling to Honduras and sexually abusing minor boys. Joseph D. Maurizio, Jr., 69, a priest of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, was originally indicted on October 7, 2014 on charges relating to his 2009 travel to Honduras and illicit sexual conduct with a minor boy.

According to the superseding indictment, Maurizio made yearly trips to Honduras between 2004 and 2009, and engaged in the sexual exploitation of two additional minor boys. Prior to three of his trips to Honduras, Maurizio transferred funds totaling $8,000 from accounts located in the Western District of Pennsylvania to accounts and individuals located in Honduras, with the intent to promote the carrying on of his illicit sexual conduct with minor victims who were living at an organization that provided services to orphaned and abandoned children.

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Criminal Investigation, Pittsburgh. The case is being prosecuted by Criminal Division Trial Attorney Amy E. Larson of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Haines of the US Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the federal government. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

The indictment charges Maurizio with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and on international money laundering offenses. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The case is set to be heard in federal court in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

The investigation and prosecution of this case are a testament to the determination of law enforcement agencies to protect children from exploitation and abuse. We will continue to work tirelessly to bring perpetrators to justice and ensure that victims receive the support and services they need.

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