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	A Face Likes His Belies This Kind of Crime CT Post December 18, 2010 http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/A-face-likes-his-belies-this-kind-of-crime-908793.php Doug Perlitz has a face like "Christ on Earth." That's how Perlitz's lawyers say supporters describe him. Let's mull this over. This is an admitted child abuser. He traded food -- basic human sustenance and shelter -- to homeless Haitian boys, street kids, for sex. That's depraved. There's nothing Christ-like about that. All the while he ran the Project Pierre Toussaint school, Perlitz dispensed little that came without strings attached. He built a charity. And he used it to rake in donations from well-intending and unsuspecting supporters to feed what he craved: forcible sex with some of the poorest, most downtrodden and vulnerable children in the world. That's rape. And yet when this handsome golden boy stands before U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton for sentencing Tuesday on only one count of traveling for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct, also known as "sex tourism," it belies the reality that Perlitz is not taking full responsibility for what he's done. Not by a long shot. Just look at the sentencing memorandum his lawyers have prepared for the judge. Perlitz acknowledges he "crossed the line," but describes his sexual encounters as being with "young men." News flash: a minor is not a man. He describes a relationship with a priest from Fairfield University as "dark and abusive." By the time teenagers enroll in college, they know the difference between right and wrong, illicit and improper. Perlitz even admits he struggled with his sexual identity. Lots of folks do. They don't become pedophiles. Enough excuses. Michael Nowacki is a devoted Catholic from New Canaan who's been "banished" from St. Thomas More Church for speaking out and urging his parish to investigate how the Haiti Fund, Perlitz' fundraising arm, spent money parishioners contributed. Nowacki was on the cusp of making a sizeable donation to the Haiti Fund after hearing a homily from Perlitz's mentor, the Rev. Paul Carrier, that he describes as "so mesmerizing it brought tears to people's eyes." Nowacki can still recall the theme. "It was about the only two true emotions that motivate people: love and fear." Then Perlitz was arrested. Carrier and his intermediaries stopped responding to Nowacki's calls and e-mails. Nowacki found it odd, especially because Carrier knew he intended to write a check to the Haiti Fund. Though Carrier has not been charged with any crime, the sentencing memorandum from Perlitz's attorneys lays some of the blame for Perlitz's misconduct on an unnamed influential priest their client met when he first arrived at Fairfield University. Carrier, a former head of the campus ministry at Fairfield University, traveled to Haiti with Perlitz, raised funds for his protege's charity and is now under investigation by the Society of Jesus New England Province, a Jesuit order. Nowacki intends to be in the courtroom when Perlitz is sentenced. "I want to see his face, see his expression," Nowacki says. "Doug Perlitz needs to be forgiven, but he can only be forgiven if he makes a full confession, takes responsibility for his actions and explains fully what went on there, who else was involved and who knew what he was doing to these boys." But that's not all. "He has to face (some of) his victims in court," Nowacki says, "and begin to repair the damage he's done to them." A little human warmth surely must have gone a long way with these boys. Instead of giving mercy, Doug Perlitz asks the government to show him some. He deserves no mercy. When it might have really counted, he had none. Connecticut Post columnist MariAn Gail Brown can be reached at 203-330-6288 or mgbrown@ctpost.com.
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