mardi 21 décembre 2010

Perlitz sentenced to nearly 20 years for sex abuse of Haitian student.

Perlitz sentenced to nearly 20 years for sex abuse of Haitian student

Michael P. Maykoand John Burgeson, Staff Writer
Published: 05:51 p.m., Tuesday, December 21, 2010
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NEW HAVEN -- Douglas Perlitz was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in a federal prison Tuesday, the maximum sought by prosecutors for his sexual abuse of a Haitain boy at his charitable project.

U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton also gave Perlitz supervised probation for 10 years after his prison stint, and he would have to participate in various alcohol, substance abuse and sex offense programs.

The judge reviewed videotaped testimony from 16 boys. She said it was obvious he abused a total of eight boys.

In a packed courtroom that included several of Perlitz's Haitian victims as well as some of his supporters and family members, U.S. Attorney Krishna Patel argued for the maximum sentence for Perlitz. The 40-year-old Fairfield Univesity graduate took the stand and apologized to his victims, saying he betrayed their trust.

"I betrayed the trust of all who supported me," said Perlitz. "The volunteers, my family, my friends, but mostly the damage I did to the students.

"I stand before you totally humble," he said. "I understand you might not believe anything that I say."

Patel argued there were at least 16 documented boys victimized by Perlitz over an eight- or nine-year period. She said it would be wrong for the court to consider all the good that Perlitz has done in sentencing him.

"You don't get to use all of that public service as a mitigating factor in sentencing," she said. "That is according to case law. All Douglas Perlitz cares about is Douglas Perlitz. When the kids came forward what did he do? He shut down the school."

Patel received a short ovation from the galley after challenging the defense arguments. That left William F. Dowd III, the attorney for Perlitz, to argue that treating Perlitz as a monster disregards all the good that he has done.

"People are not all bad and not all good," said Dowd. "This is a flawed man that has done some good."

Although 25 boys were abused by Perlitz, 125 were not victimized, Dowd said.

That produced a few chuckles from those in attendance.

During his 20-minute address on the stand, Perlitz said that since his imprisonment he feels free in his prison cell because "freedom comes from speaking the truth."

He added, "What blew up was the double life that I was leading."

He also delivered a rambling apology in Creole to the victims.

Earlier in the day, five Haitian boys told the court how Perlitz repeatedly had sex with them and warned them not to reveal those encounters.

All told, the five boys, now in their early 20s, said the abuse went on for several years and started when they were as young as 11. Some said Perlitz encouraged them to have sex in exchange for money and favors. One boy testified that Perlitz would give him rum and coke to drink before sex.

The boys' testimony was so wrenching that one Haitian man in the gallery broke down in tears. One of the five boys, who were identified only by the initials of their names, said he believed Perlitz had sex with as many as 22 boys at his school and shelter. The boy testified he was pressured by staff there not to reveal the abuse.

Prosecutors wanted Arterton to send Perlitz to prison for more than 19 years, saying he preyed on some of the world's most vulnerable children for years.

The boys said the abuse usually occurred at Perlitz's house but that at least one sexual encounter occurred in his office at the school. Some of the boys testified that Perlitz warned them they would be thrown back on the streets of Cap-Haitien to fend for themselves if they were to disclose the sexual encounters.

When Perlitz entered the courtroom, full with about 150 people, he was wearing a black, V-necked sweater, white shirt and tie and dark slacks, his hair trimmed to a crew-cut. About 15 friends and family members were in court to support him.

Arterton accepted one of the prosecution's arguments for a tougher sentencing for Perlitz -- that his victims were very poor and bereft of any legal and social service protections. But the judge rejected a prosecution assertion that another sentencing "enhancement" should be the threatening remarks Perlitz and his brother made toward prosecutors during phone calls made from prison. Arterton said those remarks did not constitute an actual plot to harm officials.

Perlitz has been in prison in Rhode Island since he was arrested on sex tourism charges in September 2009. He pleaded guilty to one count of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

Perlitz's attorneys urged the court to impose a sentence of eight to 10 years, saying despite the crimes he also helped street children in Haiti. They also cited a "dark and abusive" relationship he had with a priest when he was in college.

Perlitz -- who graduated from Fairfield in 1992 -- was honored in 2002 with a doctorate and named commencement speaker at the university for his work in Haiti. In addition to his pleading guilty to sexually abusing one of his male students, he acknowledged abusing at least seven others. The school, Project Pierre Toussaint, was set up by Perlitz to educate, feed and clothe homeless street boys in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second largest city.

In sentencing recommendations filed prior to today, prosecutors and defense attorneys presented sharply conflicting views of how Perlitz had gone from a nationally recognized humanitarian to a man who acknowledged he had sex with his charges.

On Monday, David Grudberg and William F. Dow, III, Perlitz's lawyers, dropped a bombshell in reasoning how their client came to sexually abuse students at his Project Pierre Toussaint, a program to educate, feed and clothe homeless street boys in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city. The reasons, the lawyers wrote, include a "dark and abusive relationship," both "physical and spiritual," with an unnamed Fairfield University priest that began in 1988 and continued through the Haiti years.

No individual was identified in the court papers filed by Perlitz's lawyers. But the Society of Jesus, New England Province and Fairfield University announced investigations into the Rev. Paul Carrier, who spent 20 years at the school as an instructor, chaplain and director of campus ministry.

Carrier has not been charged with any crime. He has been suspended by his order.

The prosecution team dismissed the claims by Perlitz's attorneys.

"It is simply inexplicable how any of those three purported explanations (sexual abuse by a priest, stress of working in Haiti and living up to being the face of Christ on earth) could cause anyone, let alone a person who professes to devote his life to those less fortunate, to sexually exploit children," prosecutors responded Thursday. "Rather, the evidence demonstrates that Perlitz began abusing minors in or about 1998 even before the school he founded was constructed.

"Given the evidence in this case, the more plausible explanation is that Perlitz is a sexual predator who traveled to Haiti because that is where some of world's most defenseless children reside; that his relationship with the religious leader provided him with ... connections ... (to) run his own charity where he could control and access children; that the protection Perlitz received from the religious leader and the money that he received in Haiti decreased the likelihood of discovery ... and that Perlitz's position in a community that regarded him as the `face of Christ on Earth' would ensure continued donations and supports of the school," the prosecution team maintained.

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Perlitz-sentenced-to-nearly-20-years-for-sex-912830.php#ixzz18oHXFrj8

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Perlitz-sentenced-to-nearly-20-years-for-sex-912830.php#ixzz18oGArsVo
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