Former Menudo Member Claims He Was Raped By Father of Menendez Brothers

Roy Rosselló, a former member of ’80s boy band Menudo, has alleged that he was drugged and raped by José Menendez, the late father of Erik and Lyle Menendez.

The claim was brought to light in the trailer for Peacock’s upcoming three-part docuseries, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.

More from VIBE.com

• 'Beef' Star David Choe Catches Heat Over Past Claim Of Sexually Assaulting Black Woman

• John Leguizamo Embraces "Contentious" Term "Latinx":  "I Feel It's Progressive"

• Nivea Shares How Exes The-Dream, Lil Wayne Felt About Her Looking For Love On 'Queens Court'

“I know what he did to me in his house […] It’s time for the world to know the truth,” Rosselló, 51, stated. “That’s the man here that raped me. That’s the pedophile,” he continued in an extended clip from the TODAY Show, pointing to José in a photo. At the time of the alleged assault, he was 14. Journalist Nery Ynclan added that Rosselló is a “key witness” in the murder trial of Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez.

In the docuseries trailer, Ynclan also mentioned, “This is the testimony that Erik and Lyle needed when they were sentenced to life.”

Erik, now 52, and Lyle, now 55, are both currently serving out their life sentences at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. The brothers were convicted of murdering their parents in August 1989 at the family’s Beverly Hills mansion. Erik, then 18, and Lyle, then 21, shot José, 45, five times, once point blank in the head while Kitty, 47, suffered from 15 gunshot wounds, according to PEOPLE.

José was the head of RCA Records at the time of his murder. Initially, the brothers blamed the mob for their parents’ deaths, but later claimed it was self-defense because they also claimed to have been sexually assaulted by their father. A judge deemed the defense inadmissible in court, citing irrelevance.

During the infamous trial, the brothers were pegged as greedy, cold-blooded killers. They were first prosecuted in 1993, but that ended with two hung juries and mistrials, according to the New York Times. In 1996, they were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

PEOPLE reported that on a phone call with journalist Robert Rand, Erik spoke on the newly surfaced claims. “It’s sad to know that there was another victim of my father,” he stated. “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—the result of trauma that another child has suffered.”

Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed premieres May 2 on Peacock.

Click here to read the full article.