By Michael P. Mayko
Connecticut Post
September 17, 2009
http://www.connpost.com/ci_13358895?source=most_emailed
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| Douglas Perlitz talks about his time in Haiti in a 2004 interview at Fairfield University, his... |
In one life, Douglas Perlitz was an honored Fairfield University graduate and commencement speaker whose missionary work with Haitian street children raised millions of dollars and was commended as an "inspiration to people of all ages."
In his other life, a grand jury says Perlitz sexually abused at least nine of the Haitian boys he was supposed to be helping.
A Bridgeport federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment Tuesday against Perlitz, 39, a Fairfield resident.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Perlitz at a home in Eagle, Colo., early Wednesday. He is being detained in Denver, pending a hearing Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland.
The indictment claims Perlitz befriended boys he met on the street and recruited them to attend his mission program. Once under his care, he is accused of using food, shelter, money and gifts -- including cell phones, Walkmen, clothes and other inducements -- to convince disadvantaged children to engage in sexual acts with him. If they refused, he withheld the enticements, the indictment charges.
The charges stem from his role in establishing Project Pierre Toussaint in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, which provided schooling, recreation, meals and baths to boys, as young as 6 years old, living on the streets of the impoverished nation.
Perlitz is expected to be brought to Connecticut as early as next week to face the charges before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond
Arterton in New Haven. But the investigation, which began in February, is continuing, U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy repeated several times during a press conference Thursday in New Haven.
Perlitz's work enjoyed strong support from the Fairfield University community and from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, including a visit to the Haiti mission from Bishop William E. Lori in 2002.
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| In a New Haven press conference, Nora Dannehy, center, U.S. attorney for the District of.. |
One aspect of the investigation appears to focus on the role that the Rev. Paul Carrier, Fairfield University's former director of campus ministry and community service, may have played during the years he served as chairman of the nonprofit, tax-exempt Haiti Fund, Inc., which raised millions for Perlitz's work with boys who lived on the streets.
The indictment alleges that from 2002 to 2008, $2 million was transferred from the Haiti Fund to an account in Haiti that Perlitz controlled.
It also accuses Perlitz of giving money to boys after engaging in sex acts.
Members of the Haiti Fund's board of directors were selected by an unnamed religious leader who met and befriended Perlitz during his Fairfield University days, according to the indictment.
Carrier, who frequently traveled to Haiti in support of Perlitz's work, served as chairman of the fund's board. Perlitz was the vice president for many years.
Most of the board members are Fairfield County residents and include Philip Lacovara, a lawyer representing the Diocese of Bridgeport.
Last year, Carrier was removed as chairman of the fund's board of directors. Perlitz also was ousted as the project director after an investigator hired by the board determined allegations against Perlitz were credible, according to Michael McCooey, the new fund chairman.
Carrier is not charged with any crime.
The indictment charges Perlitz with seven counts of traveling outside the United States for the purpose of engaging in sex with minors and three counts of engaging in sexual conduct in foreign places with minors. Each of the charges carries a maximum 30-year prison term and $250,000 fine.
The investigation, indictment and arrest of Perlitz stunned the Fairfield University community.
"We had no prior knowledge of it," said Rama Sudhakar, vice president of marketing. "There is no real comment to be made. All we can do is give you some facts."
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On Thursday, Lori, through the diocese, issued a statement which read: "Like many others, I was saddened to hear today's news and await the outcome."
Perlitz, a 1992 Fairfield University graduate, first visited Haiti during his junior year on a campus ministry mission volunteer trip. He claimed that visit inspired him to begin a school in Haiti to help street children.
After earning a master's degree in theology at Boston College, Perlitz returned to Haiti to work as a pastoral minister at Sacre Coeur Hospital in Milot, Haiti, in 1997. That same year, he received a grant from the Order of Malta, a Catholic religious organization, which he used to establish Project Pierre Toussaint.
At the time, the Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, then president of Fairfield University, called Perlitz's work extraordinary and an inspiration to people of all ages.
Words of encouragement like that fueled donations that allowed the charity to expand first into a residential facility in 1999 called Village Pierre Toussaint, and then, eight years later, to a residential program for high school-age students who Perlitz claimed needed extra attention.
Sudhakar said the university has had no role in the Haitian school, although several staff members, including Carrier, visited the school often, sometimes with university students.
However, the Rev. Michael Doody, the current director of campus ministry at the university, recently confirmed the university has been supporting the project financially for some years and that the monetary support is handled by Mark Reed, vice president of student affairs. Reed also confirmed he is personally involved in the project and has visited it in Haiti.
In 2002, Fairfield University awarded Perlitz an honorary degree and chose him as a commencement speaker.
Staff writers Linda Conner Lambeck and Daniel Tepfer contributed to this report.
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