MIAMI (AP) – In a legal verdict delivered by a jury in Miami, it has been determined that Michael Geilenfeld, a 73-year-old man and founder of an orphanage located in Haiti, has been found guilty of committing acts of sexual abuse against young boys residing at the facility in Port-au-Prince. Court documentation discloses that Geilenfeld was officially convicted on Thursday evening on six counts related to engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior with minors in a foreign country, as well as one count of crossing borders from Miami to Haiti with the intent of carrying out these illicit actions. He now stands to potentially receive a maximum prison sentence of 30 years for each of the charges brought against him, with the final sentencing scheduled to take place on May 5 before U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz. Throughout the course of the trial, six Haitian individuals provided testimony attesting to the abuse they allegedly suffered while under Geilenfeld’s care at St. Joseph’s Home for Boys between the years 2005 and 2010. At the time of the reported incidents, these boys, who are currently in their twenties, were between the ages of 9 and 13. Geilenfeld, who is the founder of the orphanage dating back to 1985, had maintained his innocence by pleading not guilty to the accusations made against him. Notably, the orphanage, which was one of multiple establishments overseen by Geilenfeld in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, was shut down in 2014 following the revelation of the abuse allegations. Despite the legal conviction, unresolved claims of abuse against Geilenfeld in Haiti still linger.
