Haitian Charity's Founder Accused Of Abusing Boys
NEW HAVEN -
The founder and director of a boys' school in Haiti has been indicted on federal charges and accused of sexually abusing poor boys in his program.
Acting U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy and John T. Morton, assistant
secretary of the department of homeland security, said today that
Douglas Perlitz, 39, of Eagle, Col. and formerly of Fairfield County,
has been indicted on seven counts of traveling outside the U.S. with
the intent to engage in sexual conduct with individuals under the age
of 18 and three counts of engaging in sexual conduct in foreign places
with persons under the age of 18.
Perlitz was the founder and director of Project Pierre Toussaint,
a boys school in Capt-Haitien, Haiti. He has received national
attention for helping street children living in poverty in Haiti.
The boys are derisively called "sangine," which in Creole means "one
without soul," according to a 2007 Christian Science Monitor story
about Perlitz's work with the boys.
Perlitz was helping boys who struggled to find food to survive,
skipped school, ran afoul of the law and got high on paint thinner to
try to forget the lot in life, the Monitor story said.
Federal officials today painted a different picture of Perlitz's interaction with the Haitian boys.
"This defendant is alleged to have used his position of power to
manipulate and sexually abuse vulnerable boys for nearly a decade,''
Dannehy said.
Perlitz was indicted on Tuesday; on Wednesday, he was arrested by U.S.
immigration and customs enforcement agents at his home in Colorado.
Following his arrest, he was arraigned in federal court in Denver and
has been detained pending a hearing that is scheduled for tomorrow in
Denver.
The indictment alleges that over the course of several years, Perlitz
had illicit sexual conduct with nine boys who attended school at
Project Pierre Toussaint.
To persuade the children to go along with sex acts with him, Perlitz
promised them food and shelter and also provided them with cash, cell
phones, electronics, shoes, clothes and other items.
If the minors refused to engage in sex acts with him, it was alleged
that Perlitz would at times withhold benefits from them or threaten to
expel from the school.
The indictment alleges that when Perlitz was questioned by others as to
why he permitted minors to sleep in his room at the youth facility,
Perlitz attempted to conceal the abuse of the minors by stating that it
was common in Haiti for children and adults to sleep together. Other
times, when questioned about the practice, he would state that the
particular child was having a lot of difficulty, the indictment said.
source :
www.courant.com.