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	Haitians Say They're Relieved by Perlitz Sentence By John Burgeson Ct Post December 22, 2010 http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Haitians-say-they-re-relieved-by-Perlitz-sentence-914054.php NEW HAVEN -- The 130 people who packed the stuffy federal courtroom remained transfixed through nearly seven hours of testimony Tuesday, as federal prosecutors constructed their case to keep Douglas Perlitz behind bars for nearly two decades. There was a contingent of about 30 Haitians in the courtroom, and all of them seemed relieved and happy when U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton agreed with prosecutors and sentenced Perlitz to nearly 20 years in prison. "This is a credit to the American government and the American people," said Louis Elneus, who works in Haiti's rural school districts. "The judge was thorough, thoughtful -- and she's right. We're very happy that Doug is away, and at least his victims will find some sort of satisfaction from this." There were about a dozen supporters of Perlitz in the courtroom, some of whom were family members. None, however, agreed to talk to the media. Isaac Marcelin, also from Haiti, was brought to tears by the testimony in which several Haitian boys detailed, in their native Creole, the sexual predation carried out by Perlitz. Just about all of their stories had similar details. They said that the Fairfield University graduate and graduation day speaker began having sex with them when they were about 11 or 12 years old, and that these acts continued for years. They said that Perlitz threatened to kick them out of his school program, named after 18th century abolitionist Pierre Toussaint, and send them back into the streets if they told anyone about what was going on. They also said that more than 20 boys were abused. "We have lost some level of humanity," said Marcelin. Ultimately, the case might not have come to trial if not for the efforts of Cyrus Sibert, the Haitian radio journalist who broke the story in 2007. Sibert traveled to Connecticut to attend Perlitz's sentencing. "They came to me because they know that I don't give up, and that I'll stand behind them," he said outside the courtroom, describing why the boys first approached him. Kevin Waltrip, a victim of clergy sex abuse from New Jersey and an activist for children abused by the clergy, said this was one of the worst cases of child sex abuse he's seen. "Perlitz is a serial predator," Waltrip said. "He sought out Haiti because he knew that he could have just about all of the young boys that he wanted and that he'd probably get away with it for years, which is what happened. On a scale of 1 to 10, he's a 10." Perlitz, in a 20-minute address to both the judge and to his victims, begged forgiveness. He said that he was "free now that I'm in my prison cell -- because freedom comes from speaking the truth." He made a passing reference to his good intentions. "The children came to the school with all of their suffering and began to grow up. That's when I betrayed them," he said. "Now I'm going to prison for what I did." This was too much for one person sitting in the hard, pew-like benches. "How many boys did you rape?" he shouted.
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