Colorado founder of Haitian orphanage convicted of sexually abusing boys
A Colorado man who founded an orphanage in Haiti in the mid-80s was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing numerous boys in his care.
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Colorado founder of Haitian orphanage convicted of sexually abusing boys
By Logan Smith
Updated on: February 25, 2025 / 10:42 AM MST / CBS Colorado
A Colorado man who founded an orphanage in Haiti in the mid-80s was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing numerous boys in his care.
Michael Karl Geilenfeld, 73, a Littleton resident, founded the St. Joseph's Home For Boys in 1985.
A federal jury in Miami heard testimony from six men who lived at the orphanage between 2005 and 2010. Each recounted the sexual abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of Geilenfeld, as stated in a U.S. Department of Justice press release.
Four other victims who were not part of the charged offenses also testified.
The jury convicted Geilenfeld of one count of traveling in foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct and six counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced May 5.
Geilenfeld and Hearts Of Haiti, a North Carolina nonprofit that reportedly raised money for Geilenfeld's orphanage, together filed a defamation lawsuit against a Maine resident in 2013. That man, 75-year-old Paul Kendrick of Freeport, began making accusations sexual abuse against Geilenfeld two years earlier. Kendrick became an activist after visiting Haiti in 2003 and connecting with the leader of a school for homeless youths there.
That man, Douglas Perlitz of Denver, was convicted in 2010 of sexually abusing youths in that school. He was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison and remains incarcerated today.
Kendrick's initial accusations against Geilenfeld resulted in Geilenfeld's year-long stay behind bars in Haiti in 2014, according to a Miami Herald report. But the criminal case against fell apart when alleged victims failed to show up to a key court hearing.
A judge awarded Geilenfeld and Hearts Of Haiti a $14.5 million judgement against Kendrick in 2016. That judgement was nullified on a technicality, however, and Kendrick's insurance company settled out of court with Heart Of Haiti for $3 million. Geilenfeld received no money and the defamation accusations against Kendrick were dismissed.
That failed civil case, Kendrick told CBS Colorado, is what led to Geilenfeld's eventual downfall.
"Geilenfeld really brought it on himself by filing the civil suit," Kendrick said. "The government became more interested."
Federal prosecutors in Miami picked up the evidence that came to light in the Maine civil case, Kendrick explained.
"I think the prosecutors were able to assemble a credible case that put this guy in jail."
Geilenfeld, originally from Iowa, was arrested in Littleton in January 2024.
Geilenfeld operated several orphanages in Haiti until 2014, according to the Miami Herald. He also opened another in the Dominican Republic.
Kendrick claimed Geilenfeld would guarantee room and board for his victims in exchange for abuse.
"He ran a kingdom down there. It was just terrible," Kendrick said. "Does this (conviction) make all the abuse go away for the victims? Of course not. But it does give these guys a sense of dignity."
