Paraguay prez sex scandal widens

ASUNCION, Paraguay, April 23 (UPI) -- For the third time in two weeks a woman has gone public with claims Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, a former bishop, fathered her child.

In the latest case, Damiana Hortencia Moran, a 39-year-old teacher, said she was "deeply in love" with the 57-year-old president, Mercopress reported Thursday. Moran told local media Lugo fathered her 18-month-old son, conceived in 2006 after he had left the Catholic Church hierarchy to run for office.

She worked for the coalition that helped elect Lugo.

"I decided the country was first and preferred to walk away. I didn't want my pregnancy to become an embarrassment, so I never told him," she said.

Moran came forth two days after Benigna Leguizamon, 27, sued to get Lugo to take a DNA test to determine whether he fathered her 6-year-old son. Also this month, Viviana Carrillo, 26, was the first woman to say her nearly 2-year-old son was the result of her liaison with Lugo, known as the "bishop of the poor" before he quit the Catholic Church in late 2006.

Lugo has admitted he is the father of Carrillo's child but hasn't responded to the latest two claims.