The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the founder of Menudo, Edgardo Díaz, for allegedly sexually assaulting one of its members in the 1980s, according to information from the LA Times.
The LAPD investigation focuses on an alleged attack that occurred at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles against Roy Rosselló.
It is the first criminal investigation related to Menudo and Edgardo Díaz.
“We can confirm that a report has been taken and that it is an ongoing investigation,” an LAPD spokesperson said in a statement to NBCLA. “Due to the confidentiality of the victim, the department cannot provide more.”
The investigation against Díaz began after Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican band from the 1980s, made accusations against the founder of the group, saying he was sexually abused.
Rosselló accused Diaz in a clip from a docuseries that aired on TODAY.
The former Menudo member also revealed that José Menéndez, who was then director of RCA Records, had sexually abused him when he was a teenager.
“That’s the man who raped me,” he says in the clip, pointing to a photo of José Menéndez. “This man. That’s the pedophile.”
Menendez was murdered, along with his wife, in 1989. Their sons, Lyle and Erik, were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for both crimes.
Díaz founded Menudo in 1977, which remained active until 2002. The members participated in the group from the ages of 13 to 16, including Ricky Martin, who was part of it between 1983 and 1989.
