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	Founder of Haitian Charity Pleads Guilty to Sex Charges By Edmund H. Mahony Bellingham Herald August 18 2010 http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/08/18/1576485/founder-of-haitian-charity-pleads.html Douglas Perlitz, the founder of an internationally known charity in Haiti, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to one count of traveling to a foreign country with the intent to engage in illicit sex. In a plea agreement before U.S. District Judge Janet B. Arterton, Perlitz admitted to having sex with eight minors in Haiti. Attorneys for Perlitz and the government agreed to argue later on an appropriate sentence. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The government said that, had the case gone to trial, it would have proven there were additional minor victims. It also said it could prove that in some cases Perlitz essentially paid off the children with the promise of shelter, showers, clean clothes, food and electronic toys. Perlitz had been accused of traveling to Haiti and using his position of authority to sexually abuse impoverished and homeless boys. The former Fairfield, Conn., resident and Fairfield University graduate is the founder and former director of Project Pierre Toussaint in Haiti's north coast city of Cap-Haitien. The Justice Department raised the profile of the Perlitz case to demonstrate an aggressive stance against "sex tourists" who travel abroad to molest vulnerable children. Perlitz was indicted in January and charged with nine counts of traveling outside 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. A month ago, Arterton dismissed all charges against Perlitz but said in her decision that authorities were unconstitutionally prosecuting Perlitz in Connecticut for alleged criminal conduct that occurred elsewhere. Two days later, federal prosecutors obtained a new arrest warrant for Perlitz, this time in New York. Barbara Blaine, head of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, released this statement Wednesday: "This admission should cause every person who knows Perlitz to ask friends and family if he sexually violated them too. ... We hope others with information about his crimes will step forward, call police, protect others, get help, and start healing."
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