Overview:
Michael Karl Geilenfeld, the longtime director of a Port-au-Prince orphanage, was sentenced to 210 years in U.S. federal jail for sexually abusing a number of boys underneath his care. Geilenfeld, a U.S. citizen, operated St. Joseph’s Residence for Boys for many years regardless of long-standing allegations. His conviction shines a lightweight on the failures of institutional oversight and the hazards of unchecked international affect in Haiti’s youngster welfare system.
Michael Karl Geilenfeld, founding father of St. Joseph’s Residence for Boys in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was sentenced in a Miami courtroom on Might 23 to 210 years in jail for sexually abusing a number of boys on the orphanage he led for over twenty years.
The 73-year-old U.S. citizen was convicted in February of seven federal counts, together with touring to Haiti to interact in intercourse acts with minors and abusing a number of kids.
“The defendant’s sustained sexual, bodily, and emotional abuse of a few of the most weak kids on this planet is insupportable,” stated Matthew Galeotti, Head of the Justice Division’s Legal Division, in line with a press release from the Division of Justice.
Geilenfeld was charged with six counts of ‘illicit sexual conduct’ of six victims between 2005 and 2010, however an unknown variety of different alleged victims of Geilenfeld’s additionally confirmed as much as testify.
Victims painted a grim image of an establishment that when drew worldwide help. Testimony lined years of sexual violence, manipulation, and beatings.
“For many years, Geilenfeld used his place of belief and entry to use weak kids underneath the guise of humanitarian work. We’re grateful to these victims who got here ahead to report their abuse,” stated Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Legal Investigative Division.
Geilenfeld, who operated the Port-au-Prince-based house since 1985, was additionally discovered to have inflicted bodily and emotional abuse on the weak kids he claimed to guard.
St. Joseph’s Residence for Boys had been recognized for serving to orphaned and at-risk youth, however Geilenfeld’s conviction reveals long-hidden crimes and raises considerations about oversight in worldwide support operations.
Regardless of years of credible allegations, Geilenfeld evaded justice each in Haiti and the U.S., aided by his connections, perceived missionary standing, and help from donors just like the North Carolina nonprofit Hearts with Haiti. In 2013, Hearts with Haiti and Geilenfeld participated in a six-year-long defamation suit towards activist Paul Kendrick, denying Kendrick’s accusations that Geilenfeld was a pedophile.
As Jacqueline Charles reports for the Miami Herald, victims described Geilenfeld as a “diabolical psychopath.” Victims who requested for assist from Haitian authorities had been silenced or threatened, with one survivor telling the courtroom, “You managed to have all the judges, police who had been corrupt.”