Maine Activist Defends Abuse Accusations against Founder of Haitian Orphanage

Portland Press Herald
July 9, 2015

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/07/09/maine-activist-defends-abuse-accusations-against-founder-of-haitian-orphanage/

A Freeport man who was named in a defamation lawsuit after accusing the founder of a Haitian orphanage of child abuse defended himself in court on Thursday, saying he was trying to protect poor and vulnerable children.

Orphanage founder Michael Geilenfeld and Raleigh, North Carolina-based Hearts with Haiti brought the civil lawsuit against Paul Kendrick. Kendrick had accused Geilenfeld of molesting boys who were in his care.

Kendrick took the witness stand for the first time on Thursday, two days after lawyers gave opening statements.

Kendrick and his attorney say the trial will vindicate the boys’ accounts of sexual abuse, the Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported. Seven of the boys are expected to testify.

Geilenfeld filed his lawsuit in February 2013, alleging that Kendrick wrote repeatedly in emails and on a blog that Geilenfeld sexually abused boys at his orphanage in Haiti. Geilenfeld has denied the charges.

The defamation trial was supposed to begin in October but was delayed after Geilenfeld was imprisoned in Haiti while police investigated Kendrick’s claims. Criminal charges against Geilenfeld were dropped in April, but only after he spent 237 days locked up. Haitian officials have since told The Associated Press that attorneys for alleged abuse victims have petitioned to have the case re-examined.

Geilenfeld, a native of Iowa, founded the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince in 1985.

Kendrick has been a well-known and zealous critic of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland for many years – particularly former Bishop Richard Malone – in the wake of the church’s clergy sex abuse scandal. He is the co-founder of the Maine chapter of a Catholic lay reform group, Voice of the Faithful.

In addition to what he says was wrongful imprisonment, Geilenfeld’s suit claims that Kendrick’s accusations have resulted in the loss of at least $2 million in donations to Hearts of Haiti, the nonprofit organization that raises money for Geilenfeld’s orphanage. The suit also has since been amended by Geilenfeld’s attorney, Peter DeTroy, to reflect damages his client suffered while imprisoned.

The plaintiffs say testimony will support damages in excess of more than $10 million.

Both sides have said they expect the trial to last until close to the end of the month.