AMERICAN CHARITY FOUNDER SENTENCED FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING HAITIAN BOYS IN HIS CARE

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                       Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

NEW HAVEN, United States – Federal Judge Janet Bond Arterton sentenced Douglas Perlitz to 19 years and 7 months for the sexual abuse of over 8 Haitian children after condemning him as a serial rapist and molester today.  Founder of Project Pierre Toussaint, Perlitz traveled to Haiti to open the charity for boys in 1997.  After claims of sexual abuse from a number of boys, authorities investigated and charged Perlitz for his crimes, to which he pled guilty in August.

American native of Colorado sentence to nearly 20 years for sexually abusing Haitian boys under guise of his charity. Photo courtesy of CNN.
Colorado native, Douglas Perlitz, was sentenced to nearly 20 years for sexually abusing Haitian boys under the guise of his charity. Photo courtesy of CNN.

From 1997-2008, Project Pierre Toussaint operated as a 10 acre compound sheltering homeless Haitian boys.  Court documents indicate that with over $2 million made from donors between 2002 and 2008, the compound utilized classrooms, dorms and a soccer field.  In 2002, Fairfield University, Perlitz’s alma mater, gave him an honorary degree for his work.  When reports of abuse arose in 2007, neither the public, nor the charities donors believed them.

Donor Brian Russell stated “There was no way that this man could have committed these things that people were accusing him of. It seemed utterly out of the realm of possibility.”

In 2008, the board members of Toussaint charity conducted an internal investigation, revealing the abuse of not one, but several boys by Perlitz for at least 10 years.  Russell expressed his feelings of betrayal, noting that “When I heard these stories, I felt broken and betrayed.”  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Perlitz in September of 2009.

Six of the victims were flown to Connecticut to testify regarding Perlitz’s crimes.  “He always told me, “Don’t tell anybody about it. If you tell anybody about it, I will put you out on the street,” one victim stated through the use of a Creole interpreter.

After apologizing to his victims, Perlitz asked the judge for leniency regarding his sentencing, requesting that she take into account the charitable work he accomplished in the Caribbean despite his horrible crimes.  Perlitz stated, “They say a convicted sex offender has no future, but I would like to try to prove people wrong. At times I would rather die than carry this burden to be honest.”

The defense argued that Perlitz suffered from sexual abuse from a priest while studying at Fairfield University.  However, the prosecution struck down the argument, stating that Perlitz’s actions “shows him to be nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing — an American man who traveled to Haiti purporting to care for homeless children when in reality he preyed upon the desperation of these children so that he could sexually abuse them.”

 For more information, please visit:

CNN – American To Be Sentence in Haitian Sexual Abuse Case – 21 December 2010

HuffingtonPost –  Haitian Children Testify On Douglas Perlitz’s Abuse – 21 December 2010

Fox News – Man Gets Nearly 20 Year Sentence In Haiti Sex Abuse Case – 21 December 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive