Former Menudo member says he was molested by father of Menendez brothers WSOC TV
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A former member of the global pop sensation Menudo has come forward with allegations that he was molested by Jose Menendez, the father of the infamous Menendez brothers, when he was a teenager.
The allegations are detailed in the upcoming Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” In a preview of the series that aired Tuesday on the “Today” show, former Menudo member Roy Rosselló says he was raped by Menendez, who served as the head of RCA Records.
“I know what he did to me in his house,” he says in a clip shared Tuesday.
Menendez and his wife, Mary Louise or “Kitty,” died in 1989 after they were shot by their sons, Erik and Lyle Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion, The New York Times reported. The brothers claimed they killed the pair after enduring years of sexual and psychological abuse by Jose Menendez, arguments that led two juries to deadlock on charges against them, according to The Associated Press.
A judge limited the evidence allowed in a subsequent trial, and the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder charges in 1995, the Times reported. Prosecutors framed the Menendez brothers as spoiled rich kids who wanted to get their hands on the family’s $14 million fortune, according to the AP.
They were both sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In a call shared in part on the “Today” show, Erik Menedez said he felt “horrible” and “sad to know that there was another victim of my father.”
“You know, I always hoped and believed that one day the truth about my dad would come out, but I never wished for it to come out like this, as the result of trauma that another child has suffered,” he said.
Lyle Menendez said in a clip aired on the “Today” show that it was “pretty overwhelming” to hear about the new allegation.
“We heard rumors that something might have happened with Menudo through the years,” he said. “It’s a pretty remarkable thing to happen so many decades later.”
It was not immediately clear whether the new allegations might lead authorities to reexamine the case against the Menendez brothers. Milton Anderson, one of Kitty Menendez’s brothers, told the Times that his brother-in-law was not a predator. He added that the brothers “do not deserve to walk on the face of this earth after killing my sister and my brother-in-law.”
In the docuseries, Rosselló also says he was sexually abused by the band’s creator, Edgardo Diaz, according to the “Today” show. Rosselló earlier made the allegation in the 2022 HBO Max docuseries “Menudo: Forever Young.” Other former members of Menudo have also made allegations of sexual abuse.
No criminal charges have been filed in connection to the claims, the Times reported.
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