Colorado man who founded Haitian orphanage convicted for sexually abusing boys in his care
COLORADO (KRDO) – A Miami federal jury has convicted a Colorado man for sexually abusing boys at an orphanage he founded and directed in Haiti, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
The department said 73-year-old Michael Karl Geilenfeld, who most recently lived in Littleton, founded St. Joseph’s Home for Boys – a home for orphaned and impoverished children in Haiti – in 1985, and operated the center for over two decades.
According to court documents and evidence presented during his trial, Geilenfeld repeatedly traveled between the United States and Haiti, where he sexually abused the boys entrusted to his orphanage, the department said.
On Feb. 20, a jury convicted Geilenfeld on 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 for incidents between 2005 and 2010.
The six counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct each related to a different victim who was a child at the time of the offense, the DOJ said.
During the trial, each of those six victims testified about the sexual abuse suffered at the hands of Geilenfeld, along with four other victims that were not the subjects of the offenses.
Geilenfeld's sentencing is scheduled for May 5, where he faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for each of the seven total counts, the DOJ said.
The case was brought forward as part of the DOJ's Project Safe Childhood, an initiative that aims to combat child exploitation and abuse nationwide. The program is led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS and marshals federal, state, and local resources to better apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children while also identifying and rescuing victims.
