MAINE
ABC News
PORTLAND, Maine — Jul 23, 2015, 7:15 PM ET
By DAVID SHARP Associated Press
A Maine activist who led an email blitz accusing a Haiti orphanage founder of sexually abusing boys was ordered Thursday to pay more than $14 million in damages to the man and to a charity that raised money for the orphanage.
The jury awarded $7 million in damages to Michael Geilenfeld, founder of St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, and $7.5 million to North Carolina-based Hearts with Haiti, even though seven Haitian men testified that they were molested by Geilenfeld.
Geilenfeld, who testified that the accusations of abuse were “vicious, vile lies,” blamed Paul Kendrick’s campaign for him being imprisoned for 237 days in a jail in Haiti and for costing Hearts with Haiti several million dollars in donations.
Peter DeTroy, lawyer for Geilenfeld and the charity, said the jury’s verdict sends a message that people need to think twice before making online attacks.
“The computer keyboard is a lot mightier than the pen and the sword,” he told jurors. But, he said, half-truths, exaggerations, distortions and outright falsehoods spread via electronic communication “can eviscerate one’s reputation and one’s life work.”
David Walker, Kendrick’s lawyer, said he was disappointed by the verdict and that he’d be looking at the option of an appeal. He declined further comment. …
Kendrick, an activist for sexual abuse victims, launched his campaign in late 2011 in which he sent out email blasts to hundreds of people accusing Geilenfeld of being a serial pedophile and Hearts with Haiti of refusing to do anything about him.
“He had one goal: ‘I’m going to destroy you. I’m going to bring you down. I’m going to put you in prison.’ And he did,” DeTroy told jurors.
After the jury’s verdict, the plaintiffs told the judge that they were satisfied with the verdict and would not seek punitive damages. At least a portion of the damages would be paid by Kendrick’s homeowner’s insurance policy, attorneys said.
Geilenfeld, an Iowa native, left the courtroom without commenting to reporters.
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