WALTHAM (MA)
BishopAccountability.org
On January 4, 2012, seventeen more Haitian boys brought suit alleging abuse by Douglas Perlitz between 1998 and 2008 at Project Pierre Toussaint in Haiti. Attorneys Mitchell Garabedian of Boston and Steven Errante of New Haven have now filed 20 suits on behalf of 21 students. In addition to Perlitz, who has admitted to some of the abuse and is now in prison, the civil suits name Rev. Paul E. Carrier SJ, former chaplain at Fairfield University; the Haiti Fund, which is Project Pierre Toussaint’s fundraising arm; Fairfield University, where some of the fundraising was done, and where Carrier was once a chaplain; the New England province of the Jesuits; and Hope Carter, who served on the board of the Haiti Fund with Carrier. Perlitz is accused of the abuse; the other defendants are accused of violating state, federal, and international laws by failing to take the appropriate actions to stop the assaults. See More Haitian boys sue Perlitz, Fairfield U. in abuse scandal, by Michael P. Mayko, Connecticut Post, January 5, 2012.
Below we provide the complaints that have been filed, along with some defendant’s motions to dismiss. For background on the cases, see also Perlitz’s guilty plea; activist Paul Kendrick’s Haiti narrative; Perlitz Admits He Sexually Abused Minor Boy, by Michael P. Mayko, News Times, August 18 2010; and Perlitz Sentenced to Nearly 20 Years for Sex Abuse in Haiti, by Michael P. Mayko, News Times, December 21, 2010.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.