0 Shares 0



0

0







On Tuesday, September 22, a federal jury convicted US Catholic priest Joseph Maurizio of child sexual abuse over a span of multiple visits to Honduras.

The 70 year old clergy member has been found guilty on three of four charges against him, after which a decision in early February could face him more than 30 years in prison. After a raid on his home, in Pittsburgh, he was also indicted for the possession of child pornography. In addition, he was charged for using the organization's money to finance his own trips.

Between 1999 and 2009, Maurizio conducted numerous trips to different orphanages in Honduras, Central America, and South America, supposedly to collaborate with the directors of the orphanages. When the directors of the orphanages in El Progreso discovered the abuse, they confronted the priest, who retaliated by threatening to cut off financial aid, nearly half of the institution's budget. Despite that reports of the abuse had been made six years ago, only until recently did American authorities capture the suspect.

When the case became public, at least two Pennsylvania minors came forward to prosecutors claiming they were also abused by Maurizio.

According to the UN's International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), at least 1,800,000 children worldwide are victims of sex tourism, although the number may be much greater due to the difficulty in collecting reliable data given that many countries conceal the practices. The United States and Canada rank highest in sex tourism consumption, while the most affected Latin American nations are Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico.