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	Ex-fairfielder Accused of Abusing Haitian Boys Drops Bond Bid By Michael P. Mayko The Advocate October 29, 2009 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_13662558?source=most_viewed NEW HAVEN --The hearing was expected to take hours, but lasted only minutes. Rather than press their request to have accused molester Douglas Perlitz released on $5 million bond and into the custody of a dozen Fairfield residents, his lawyers withdrew their bid Wednesday. The defense team vowed, however, to renew the application on behalf of the former Fairfield resident charged with sexually abusing street orphans at a Haitian charity he established to help them. Meanwhile, a small busload of 15 Haitians, who made the trip from New York, saw the action as the first of what they hope will be a string of court victories in the prosecution of Perlitz, a Fairfield University graduate honored by his alma mater in 2002 for working with young Haitian street boys through his charity, Project Pierre Toussaint. He was indicted on federal charges in September. "We are the voices of those children," maintained Gina Magloiri, a Haitian living in New York. "We will continue to keep coming back." "The next time there won't be enough space in the courtroom to hold us," vowed Surprise Dessalines, another Haitian living in New York. The Haitians, many of whom carried signs reading, "No Bail for Pedophile" and "Justice for Haitian Children," were joined by Paul Kendrick of Maine and Paul Kellen of Massachusetts, members of the group, Voice of the Faithful, which advocates on behalf of people sexually abused by Catholic clergy. During the past two weeks, the VOF and the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, led by Marguerite Laurent and Henri Alexandre, mounted a letter-writing campaign urging U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis to keep Perlitz behind bars until his trial on charges of traveling to Haiti to engage in sexual activity with young boys. Wednesday's proceedings came hours after Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna Patel filed a document alleging that a forensic review of a laptop computer seized from Perlitz in Colorado indicates he trolled Web sites using search words like "gay black boys," "Colorado Haitians" and "Africa boys" until the day before his Sept. 16 arrest. Additionally, an agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement allegedly found more than 100 images, many of which depicted "younger-looking black males engaged in graphic homosexual activity," according to the prosecutor. Outside the courtroom, lawyer William F. Dow III, who with David Grudberg, represents Perlitz said the bond request they filed was "only an outline" that needed additional work done "on the dynamics." In court papers, the defense lawyers asked Margolis to keep private the names of people willing to post between $100,000 and $325,000, as well as those offering to watch Perlitz if he is released on bond while awaiting trial. As to the latest allegations, Dow said, "There is nothing to substantiate that he was trolling for companionship." Meanwhile, Cyrus Sibert, a radio and print journalist in Haiti who first reported the allegations in 2007 and has been corresponding with the Connecticut Post by e-mail, said he believes there are more than 20 victims abused by Perlitz as opposed to the nine noted in the federal indictment. "They are living in squalid conditions," said Sibert, a member of five journalistic organizations including the Society of Professional Journalist. "They are facing pressure from people who used to get handouts from the project activities," he said. He was referring to Project Pierre Toussaint, which Perlitz founded and built from a street clinic to a school and residential facility, which was shut down last summer when funding stopped coming from the Order of Malta and the Haiti Fund, a non-profit Fairfield County organization. Sources said the Project Pierre Toussaint pumped about $300,000 annually into the Haitian economy. Sibert said many of the victims fear being killed "by people they don't know, people in the society and authorities who used to profit from Doug Perlitz." Last week he said a delegation from the United Nations' Human Rights Section met with the victims and offered their assistance. Laurent, who heads the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, said there have been many issues with UN peace-keeping groups in Haiti, including one from Sri Lanka that created a brothel with young Haitian children. Last week, John Duarte, a former Catholic priest in Canada, was charged with sexually abusing boys in Haiti over a 10-year period. Dow said Perlitz denies all the allegation and branded Sibert " a shock jock ... whose familiarity with veracity is infrequent and insubstantial."
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