Fairfield University, The New England Society of Jesus, The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta and The Reverend Paul E. Carrier have proposed a $60 million settlement with a group of plaintiffs who claim they were sexually abused at a school operated by officials connected to the different organizations in Haiti. An organization named Haiti Fund, Inc. was also named in the suit and the settlement would cover claims against them as well. The attorneys for the plaintiffs claim the different entities did not provide proper oversight over the individuals in charge of the Project Pierre Toussaint School where the abuse took place. The school is located in Cap-Haitien, the second major city in the country. The school was established to help homeless children in the city. The Boston Globe reported the proposal would compensate anyone who was sexually abused by Douglas Perlitz or Reverend Carrier between January 1, 1996 and July 1, 2009, the time period where claims of the abuse are alleged to have taken place.
The man at the center of the scandal, Douglas Perlitz, was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for his role in the abuse. He was the founder of the school and it was reported that he apologized to the victims during his sentencing hearing. Some of the victims testified in detail to the kind of abuse they suffered at the hands of Perlitz. One victim said Perlitz gave him rum and then sodomized him. Others say Perlitz would abuse them and threaten to put them out on the street if they told anyone. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and putting children on the street would be an extreme hardship on their lives. The CIA Factbook published in their statistics about Haiti the risk to catch major infectious diseases is very high. There were also allegations of abuse made against Reverend Carrier, but evidence hasn’t been found to his involvement. His attorney denied those claims. In 2004, CNN interviewed Carrier about his activities in Haiti.
The scandal around the Project Pierre Toussaint School has been ongoing since 2007 when allegations of abuse were first made. The Connecticut Post created a series titled Betrayal of Hope where they filed several news reports about the issues surrounding the school.
About RapidFunds
RapidFunds provides post-settlement funding to plaintiffs’ attorneys with fees in the Project Pierre Toussaint sexual abuse cases.The company also provides case cost funding to plaintiffs’ attorneys for their current and future case expenses like the Project Pierre Toussaint sexual abuse cases. Interested plaintiffs’ attorneys can fill out an application on our website or complete the application here. For more information about post-settlement funding, case cost finance, and the funding process call 888-927-9500 or email info@rapidfunds.com.
Photo Credit: Le Korrigan (Flickr)