PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
(AP) — A judge in Haiti has dismissed the case against a U.S. citizen who was
accused of abusing residents of an orphanage that he has run for three decades
in the Haitian capital.
Michael Geilenfeld, who
had been in custody since his Sept. 5 arrest, was released Wednesday after a brief
trial before a judge in Port-au-Prince.
Five former residents
of the St. Joseph's Home for Boys had accused Geilenfeld of physical and sexual
abuse. None of the alleged victims, all adults now, testified at
the trial.
Defense lawyer Alain
Lemithe said the accusations were vague and unsubstantiated.
"They had nothing
against him," Lemithe told The Associated Press on Thursday.
"They had no proof whatsoever so he has been released."
Manuel Jeanty, a lawyer
for the victims, said neither he nor any of his clients attended the proceeding
because they weren't notified in advance that it would be taking place. He said
he planned to file an appeal.
"The justice
system is not working," Jeanty said.
Geilenfeld, 63, founded
the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in 1985. His charity grew to encompass three
homes, a guest house for missionaries and a dance troupe that toured the U.S.
and Canada to promote the organization.
In February 2013,
Geilenfeld and Hearts with Haiti, a North Carolina nonprofit group that raises
money for the orphanage, filed a defamation suit against Paul Kendrick, an
activist in Maine who had publicized allegations of child sexual and physical
abuse at the facility. The suit called the charges "false and
heinous" and said they had been investigated and determined to
be false.
Geilenfeld said in a
deposition filed in the civil case that an email and blog campaign by the
activist had cost his organization more than $1.5 million in donations.
He denied ever engaging
in a sexual act with anyone under age 18. "I have devoted my life to
enriching the lives of children in Haiti, the United States and abroad,"
he said in the deposition.
A trial in the
defamation case was put on hold because of Geilenfeld's arrest but is now
expected to be scheduled in the coming months, said Peter DeTroy, a lawyer
for the plaintiffs. "We look forward to our day in a Maine court,"
he said.
Kendrick said he also
welcomes a resumption of the civil case so alleged victims of abuse
can testify.
"The case against
me presents a great opportunity for these men to tell their stories in the
safety of a U.S. courtroom and they're looking forward to doing that,"
he added.
___
Associated Press writers Ben
Fox in Miami and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to
this report.
