Defense Claims Fairfield Priest Abused Perlitz.

Less than two weeks before Douglas Perlitz is scheduled to be sentenced for illicit sexual conduct in Haiti, his defense filed a memorandum stating he is a victim in the charges against him. The defense cited a deep and "dark" relationship with an unnamed Fairfield priest and mentor as one of the leading factors that led to Perlitz's illegal behaviors in Haiti.

In August 2010, Perlitz pleaded guilty to one charge of traveling from New York to Haiti on June 6, 2005, with the intention of engaging in sexual relations with a young boy. Currently Perlitz faces up to 20 years in prison for charges against him involving sexual abuse of a minor boy, according to the Connecticut Post.

In the 32-page document The Defendants' Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing, filed to the District Court of Connecticut, the defense describes "a priest" having a significant role in Perlitz's emotionally unstable status in the "Personal Background" section.

The document does not name the priest; it only identifies "the priest" who began a long-lasting relationship with Perlitz soon after his first days as an undergraduate at Fairfield University. The document also specifies that this priest played a key role in all of Perlitz's work in Haiti.

The defense states that this priest accompanied Perlitz on his first trip to Haiti as part of a campus group trip and remained an authority figure in the Project Pierre Toussaint in Haiti, the school Perlitz founded in 1997 with a grant from the Order of Malta, a Catholic order.

Perlitz's attorney states that the relationship with the priest "ultimately took on a dark aspect, both physically and spiritually, that had a significant and long-lasting impact on him." The defense claims that this relationship does not serve as an excuse but rather an explanation, which "eventually led him to 'cross the line' as he puts it, and engage in sexual misconduct," according to the document.

The document continues to describe the relationship between the priest and Perlitz as a significant factor in Perlitz's illegal actions. The relationship revolved around an abuse of power and a violation of trust that Perlitz, in return, projected on the innocent Haitian boys. "It is a sad and all-too-true fact that abusive behavior has a painful circularity to it," the document states.

Perlitz, also a 1996 graduate of Boston College with a Masters degree in Theology, said he struggled with his sexual identity and a lack of intimacy. His solution to this came in the form of his work with the boys in Haiti. The defense described the nature of his work as a solution that "presented both opportunity and temptation."

After suppressing the need for so long, Perlitz describes in the document how he "crossed the line one night." This began the repetitive abusive behavior that detached Perlitz from the Jesuit values that had once defined his life. This behavior is also what landed him in his current status as a sexual offender who committed the crime of sexual tourism (U.S.C. 2423 b).

Rev. Paul Carrier, S.J., former Fairfield University director of campus ministry and community service, was an involved mentor in Perlitz's life as a Fairfield undergraduate and throughout his post-graduate years in Haiti. In 1999, two years after Perlitz had founded PPT, the Haiti Fund was founded and led by Carrier as the chairman of the board of directors. This fund raised millions of dollars to support Perlitz's school in Haiti.

Fairfield University was contacted multiple times for a comment but was unavailable.

The defense hopes this memorandum reduce the sentencing of Doug Perlitz on Dec. 21. "We submit that the proper sentence must recognize both the terrible suffering of the victims in this case, and the exemplary manner in which Doug Perlitz has lived his life." Perlitz will be sentenced at the New Haven courthouse following a judge's refusal to grant the defense an extension. He currently faces anywhere from eight to nearly 20 years in prison on the charges of sexual abuse of a minor boy.

Fairfield University and the Order of Malta are in the works of financing a $850,00 project to help feed, educate and counsel the boys left begins after the closing of Perlitz's Haitian school, according to the Connecticut Post. Fairfield University president, Rev. Jeffrey von Arx and a representative from the Order of Malta have negotiated with a Haitian charitable ministry, Kids Alive International, to finance this five-year support program.
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