UNITED STATES
PRNewswire
NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Simmons Hanly Conroy, working with Boston-based plaintiffs’ attorney Mitchell Garabedian, has filed over 100 new cases alleging sex abuse of young Haitian boys at an orphanage in Haiti more than seven years ago by convicted pedophile Douglas Perlitz.
The new cases, filed Nov. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, follow the 2013 landmark settlement for $12 million of 24 consolidated sex abuse cases alleging negligent supervision of Perlitz at the orphanage. Simmons Hanly Conroy negotiated that settlement, paid by defendants the Society of Jesus of New England; Fairfield University; the Order of Malta; Hope Carter, a volunteer at the Haitian facility; and Father Paul Carrier.
Claims in all the cases involve improper supervision of Perlitz’s activities as he operated the school for underprivileged boys in Cap Haitien, Haiti, from the late 1990s until around 2010, during which time Perlitz raped and otherwise sexually abused the victims. In 2011, Perlitz was convicted of sexual abuse and currently is serving a 19-year, seven-month federal prison sentence in Seagoville, Texas.
According to the new complaint, Perlitz repeatedly molested boys, ages 9 to 21, at the orphanage and demanded sexual favors in exchange for shoes, clothing, money or other necessities. Boys who were willing to accede to Perlitz’s demands were provided with new clothes and shoes, as well as cash, while boys who refused Perlitz’s demands were forced to go without basic necessities.
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