American to be sentenced in Haitian sexual abuse case

[Judi Lynn]

Source: CNN

American to be sentenced in Haitian sexual abuse case
By Vladimir Duthiers and Hannah Yi, "AC360" Staff
December 21, 2010 3:36 a.m. EST

Cap-Haitien, Haiti (CNN) -- An American who set up a school for homeless street boys in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, could face nearly 20 years in prison after he admitted sexually abusing some of the same children he sheltered, clothed and educated. Douglas Perlitz, 40, will be sentenced Tuesday in New Haven, Connecticut.

In September 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Perlitz. He denied all accusations, but in August Perlitz pleaded guilty to one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. He also admitted to engaging in sexual conduct with eight minors.

~snip~
Perlitz went to Haiti in 1997 and started a charity called Project Pierre Toussiant (PPT). Over the years, PPT grew into a 10-acre compound with dorms, classrooms and a soccer field. Perlitz frequently flew back to Fairfield, Connecticut, to raise money. According to court documents, from 2002 to 2008, donors gave Perlitz more than $2 million to help care for the kids. His alma mater, Fairfield University, also gave him an honorary degree in 2002 for helping homeless boys in Haiti.

Francilien Jean-Charles was 12 years old and living on the streets when Perlitz found him.
"I thanked God when I met Douglas," said Jean-Charles. "But when things started to turn bad, I realized it would have been better if I never came to PPT."
Jean-Charles and a dozen other boys said they were routinely raped by Perlitz for years. They would lie awake in their dorms wondering who would be Perlitz's victim. Fredlin Legrand said he could never sleep peacefully.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/12/21/haiti.abuse/index.html

[SemperEadem]

1. then let him rot in a Haitian prison

[Judi Lynn]

2. Haitian victims testify of abuse by Colo. man

Haitian victims testify of abuse by Colo. man
By DAVE COLLINS
The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 21, 2010; 2:56 PM

~snip~
Now a resident of Eagle, Colo., Perlitz founded the school in 1997 when he lived in Fairfield County, Conn. Authorities said he began abusing the children in 1998 before the school was built.

Another victim said Perlitz started abusing him on his 14th birthday in 2004. He said he struggled with feelings of shame and thought about suicide, especially when he read the Bible.

"I am here today to tell the truth. Because of the truth I can find justice," he said. "He hurt us a lot."

Character witnesses were expected to testify on Perlitz's behalf later in the day.

Perlitz was arrested last year and pleaded guilty to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, a crime that carries up to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors have asked the judge for a prison sentence of nearly 20 years, saying Perlitz preyed on some of the world's most vulnerable: Haitian street children with little or no family support or education.

Authorities said Perlitz enticed the impoverished children into sex acts by promising food, shelter, money, electronics and other items of value, and then threatened to withhold benefits and expel them if they spurned his advances.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122103624.html



Douglas Perlitz talks about his missionary work with Haitian street
children in a 2004 interview in Fairfield, Conn. (AP)

Defense downplays threats by Perlitz against two federal prosecutors
Michael P. Mayko, Staff Writer
Published: 11:33 p.m., Sunday, December 19, 2010

NEW HAVEN -- Lawyers for Douglas Perlitz downplayed threats and disparaging remarks he and a younger brother made against two federal prosecutors in telephone conversations recorded last summer at the Wyatt Federal Detention Center in Rhode Island.

Instead, David Grudberg and William F. Dow, III, Perlitz's lawyers, blamed the heated comments on emotion and frustration stemming from the defendant's arrest, detention and eventual conviction for sexually abusing homeless Haitian boys in a program he established to help them.

"The fact remains, however, that the (criminal justice) process often is taxing and frustrating, especially for those in custody," said Grudberg, who will try to convince U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton that Perlitz deserves much less than the nearly 20-year sentence prosecutors are demanding. "This frustration and emotion often leads parties affected by the process to vent in any number of ways -- against their lawyers, against the justice system or against the prosecution...it is vital to differentiate between expressions of frustration and a genuine plot to do harm."

But prosecutors say Perlitz and his brother did more than vent -- they threatened and belittled Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna Patel's heritage -- knowing their conversations were recorded and would get back to her. However, neither Perlitz nor his younger brother, who lives in Colorado, were charged with any criminal offense related to the alleged threats.

More:
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Defense-downplays-threats-by-Perlitz-against-two-909519.php