By Edmund H. Mahony
The Hartford Courant
January 28, 2010
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-web-perlitz-haiti-0129jan29,0,1946778.story
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| In this November 2004 photo, Douglas Perlitz, a graduate of Fairfield University, talks about his missionary work with Haitian street children in Fairfield, Conn. Perlitz, the founder of a school for poor children in Haiti has been indicted on charges of sexually abusing nine boys there, allegedly threatening them with expulsion or withholding benefits if they did not comply with his demands. Photo by Jeff Bustraan |
Federal prosecutors said Thursday that they now have evidence that the Connecticut founder of an internationally known residential charity for children in Haiti sexually abused nearly twice as many poor and homeless boys as originally suspected.
A federal grand jury in Bridgeport returned a new indictment Thursday against Douglas Perlitz, 39, accusing him of traveling to Haiti and engaging in sexual conduct with 18 minor boys. When he was originally charged in September, Perlitz was charged with crimes associated with 10 boys.
Perlitz is accused of assaulting the children between 1998 and 2008 and then trying to block various investigations after the allegations became public in 2007. Federal investigators said Perlitz tried to buy off victims and conceal computer records. He has been denied bail and locked up since his arrest Sept. 16.
Authorities have said they believe Perlitz used the cover of a well known charity closely associated with the Catholic church to extort sexual favors from the poorest children in the hemisphere's poorest country. They said he threatened to expel children from his charity's housing and return them to the streets if they refused his demands.
Since Perlitz's arrest, senior federal law enforcement officials have pointed to him as an example of what they have called invigorated federal efforts to enforce new laws written to track down and prosecute U.S. citizens who exploit children on foreign soil.
Perlitz was founder and director of Project Pierre Toussaint in Haiti's north coast city of Cap-Haitien, the country's second most-populous city. Perlitz offered boys as young as 6 years old homes, food, clothing, shoes, water to bathe in, sporting activities, and basic education.
The project was financed over the past decade through Haiti Fund Inc., a registered Connecticut charity. Fund directors were appointed by the Rev. Paul Carrier, the former director of campus ministry at Fairfield University. Authorities say Carrier is a close friend of Perlitz's and traveled repeatedly to visit him in Haiti.
Donors contributed more than $2 million to Project Pierre Toussaint between 1997 and 2008. The Haitian Times newspaper has reported that, when allegations of sexual abuse surfaced in 2008, donations dried up and the operation was forced to close in the summer of 2008. Children who lived in the charity's residence hall became homeless once again.
Perlitz is a 1992 graduate of Fairfield University. In 2002, he delivered the school's commencement address and received an honorary degree. Students, faculty and alumni have been major contributors to the Perlitz's organization. Perlitz returned to the Fairfield area after the charity closed and moved to the Denver area last summer.
While in Colorado, Perlitz continued to speak with people in Haiti and "was wiring money to individuals in Haiti, which the government believes was done to buy the silence of additional children," federal authorities said. In addition, they said, Perlitz was using a laptop computer to access sexually oriented Internet sites featuring nude, black boys.
In the new indictment, Perlitz is charged with nine counts of traveling outside of the United States with the intent to engage in sexual conduct with persons under the age of 18, and 10 counts of engaging in sexual conduct in foreign places with persons under the age of 18. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count, if convicted.
Until his arrest, Perlitz spent most of his time since 1991 in Haiti. He has claimed he was inspired to open a school for street children during his first visit to the country. Six years later, in 1997, he founded Project Pierre Toussaint with a grant from the Order of Malta, a charitable religious organization. Perlitz opened two residences for Haitian boys and a third for American volunteers.
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