MAINE
ABC News
PORTLAND, Maine — Jul 16, 2015
By DAVID SHARP Associated Press
An orphan who grew up on the streets of Haiti, Daniel Madrigal said he was grateful to find food, clean clothes and shelter at St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince. But he says the orphanage founder who took in street kids also sexually abused him.
Daniel Madrigal on Thursday described his arrival as a teenager at the orphanage as “the most beautiful day of my life,” but said he was later kicked out after rejecting the founder’s sexual advances.
His testimony, and that of other former orphans, is key in a defamation lawsuit filed by orphanage founder Michael Geilenfeld and a U.S. charity, Hearts with Haiti. They sued a Maine man who advocates for child sexual abuse victims and sought to publicize the molestation allegations against Geilenfeld through a campaign starting late in 2011. Geilenfeld has denied sexually abusing children.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but Madrigal has consented to being identified, saying he wanted to tell his story.
The federal jury’s decision could come down to whether they believe Madrigal and six other accusers, five of whom are testifying via videotape.
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