By Alaine Griffin
Hartford Courant
December 20, 2010
http://articles.courant.com/2010-12-20/community/hc-hatian-charity-founder-sex-arrest-20101220_1_project-pierre-toussaint-charity-for-homeless-boys-illicit-sexual-contact
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NEW HAVEN — — The Connecticut founder of an internationally known charity for homeless boys in Haiti, accused of repeatedly sexually abusing some of the impoverished children in his care, will be sentenced today in U.S. District Court.
Douglas Christian Perlitz, 40, founder and director of Project Pierre Toussaint in Haiti's north coast city of Cap-Haitien, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a single charge of traveling abroad for illicit sexual purposes. Federal prosecutors are seeking a prison term of 19½ years.
The guilty plea to a single offense was part of a broader plea bargain agreement that ends a yearlong prosecution of Perlitz, formerly of Fairfield. As part of the plea bargain, Perlitz admitted traveling to Haiti repeatedly between 2001 and 2008 and engaging in illicit sexual contact with eight boys. He previously denied his guilt and aggressively fought the charges.
Project Pierre Toussaint, based in the second-most populous city in the hemisphere's poorest country, offered young boys homes, food, clothing and basic education. It was financed through the Haiti Fund Inc., a registered Connecticut charity. Prosecutors say Perlitz promised boys gifts and money to persuade them to engage in sexual acts with him. Boys who did not comply with his requests, prosecutors said, were threatened with expulsion.
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