Former Menudo member Roy Rosselló says he was drugged and raped by father of Menendez brothers
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Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, is coming forward with allegations that he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by Jose Menendez, the music executive who was infamously murdered by his sons Lyle and Erik Menendez in 1989.
In the upcoming Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, premiering May 2, Rosselló, 51, alleges that the Menendez patriarch drugged and raped him during a visit to the Menendez home in New Jersey when he was 14.
"I know what he did to me in his house," Rosselló says in a preview of the series that aired Tuesday on Today. Later in the video, Rosselló points to a photo of Menendez and says, "That's the man here that raped me. That's the pedophile." He adds, "It's time for the world to know the truth."
Menendez + Menudo also includes allegations that one of Menudo's former managers, Edgardo Diaz, sexually abused Rosselló when he was part of the group in the mid-1980s. As for Menendez's connection to the group, he had signed Menudo as an executive at RCA Records.
Rosselló and other Menudo members have previously alleged rampant abuse and assault during their time with the group. The HBO Max docuseries Menudo: Forever Young, released last summer, included interviews with 13 former members who accused Diaz of physical, sexual, and mental abuse. Díaz, who did not respond to requests for an interview or comment for Forever Young, has denied any wrongdoing.
Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images Lyle and Erik Menendez in court
It's unclear if Rosselló's allegations will have any impact on efforts to secure a new trial for Lyle and Erik Menendez, who remain behind bars under life sentences and have been unsuccessful in appeal filings. After two trials, the brothers were convicted in 1996 for fatally shooting their father and mother, Mary Louise. The defense had argued that Jose Menendez had sexually molested his sons for years and they killed him out of fear.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the brothers' highly publicized cases, did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment Tuesday.
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