Perlitz, Fairfield U., others sued again by Haitian sex victims Michael P. Mayko, Staff Writer Published 11:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Another federal lawsuit has been filed charging Douglas Perlitz with sexually abusing two Haitian boys in a humanitarian program he helped create to better their life in that destitute country. In the civil lawsuit filed Wednesday, the boys, Denis Mesamour and Thony Vall, each are seeking more than $20 million in damages from Perlitz; the Rev. Paul E. Carrier and his Society of Jesus Jesuit Order; Fairfield University; Hope Carter, a New Canaan philanthropist; and the Haiti Fund, which helped fund Perlitz's Project Pierre Toussaint. The lawsuit accuses those parties of negligence in hiring, supervising or directing Perlitz and breaching their fiduciary duties to the children. It also seeks damages from 12 other unidentified individuals for their alleged roles in that process. Only Perlitz is accused of sexual assault. None of the other defendants has been charged with any criminal wrongdoing or accused of participating in the alleged assaults. The suit filed by Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston lawyer who specializes in sexual cases against the clergy, is the second of what are expected to be at least 20 cases filed in Connecticut's federal court on behalf of former students who claim they were abused by Perlitz. This case has been assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson in Hartford. Eventually it is expected that all of the cases will be consolidated and assigned to one judge in order to expedite and streamline the judicial process. Perlitz, who with funding from the Order of Malta and donations funneled through the Haiti Fund, created and ran Project Pierre Toussaint, a program to clothe, feed, shelter and educate abandoned boys living on the streets of Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city. In December, Perlitz was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton to 19 years and seven months in prison after he admitted traveling from the U.S. to Haiti to engage in sexual conduct with one boy. The plea was reached as part of an agreement to end an indictment that would have charged him with assaulting 23 different students. Six of his former students were flown to the U.S. from Haiti and during the sentencing described the sexual abuse and the impact on them. Like a similar suit filed in April on behalf of Joseph Jean Charles, this suit alleges Carrier, who served as president of the Haiti Fund and Perlitz's mentor; his Society of Jesus Order; the Haiti Fund; Carter, a Haiti Fund board member; and five unnamed individuals failed to properly hire, supervise and direct Perlitz. Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Perlitz-Fairfield-U-others-sued-again-by-1386044.php#ixzz1MpcHMHfl ____________________ "La vraie reconstruction d'Haïti passe par des réformes en profondeur des structures de l'État pour restaurer la confiance, encourager les investisseurs et mettre le peuple au travail. Il faut finir avec cette approche d'un État paternaliste qui tout en refusant de créer le cadre approprié pour le développement des entreprises mendie des millions sur la scène internationale en exhibant la misère du peuple." Cyrus Sibert Reconstruction d'Haïti : A quand les Réformes structurelles? Haïti : La continuité du système colonial d'exploitation prend la forme de monopole au 21e Siècle. WITHOUT REFORM, NO RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN HAITI (U.S. Senate report.)