Douglas Perlitz
Help Haiti's minor victims, request the Court impose the most severe sentence possible; attend the hearing
Douglas Perlitz Case - Interview with Ezili Dantà ² of HLLN, broadcast around Sept. 6, 2010 on Haitian Radio Omega with Hans Roy on the program "Pensà ©es sans frontià ¨res" just two weeks after Douglas Perlitz plead guilty.
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Haiti Action Alert: Demand maximum sentence for Pedophile Perlitz on Dec. 21, 2010
Folks,
so much is going on right now for our beloved Haiti - imported cholera
killing thousands, no relief for the 1.7 million people still homeless
from the January earthquake, hundreds of charities fraudulently
collecting upwards to $1.4 billion to help earthquake victims while
their dying from drinking unclean water 11 months later, and now the
Nov. 28 unfair elections without an electorate.
I know a lot is going on. But we must not forget that the Douglas Perlitz pedophile case - Docket No. 3:09CR207 (JBA) - is up for sentencing on Dec. 21, 2010 in New Haven , CT.
Below
is a sample Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN) letter you may
personalized or use as is, to urge Judge Arterton to sentence Douglas
Perlitz to the maximum possible sentence, to fine him the full $250,000
allowable fine, as well as to order Perlitz to pay the maximum
restitution allowable by law in favor of his Haiti victims.
In one essay on this case, I detailed, for the Ezili HLLNetwork, that:
" In
pleading guilty, Douglas Perltiz admitted that, on various dates
between 2001 and 2008, he traveled from the United States to Haiti and
engaged in illicit sexual conduct with at least eight minor victims of
Haiti. Sentencing is scheduled for December 21, 2010, at which time
Douglas Perlitz faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years, a
fine of up to $250,000 as well as restitution to his victims. In court,
Douglas Perlitz did not dispute lead counsel for the prosecuting team,
Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna Patel's claim that she had evidence
Douglas Perlitz engaged in sex with at least eight underage boys and as
many as 13. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Douglas Perlitz
faces anywhere from eight years and one month in prison to 19 years and
seven months in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 21 by Judge Janet Bond
Arterton. Federal law provides no parole. Whatever sentence Perlitz
gets will be the amount of time he serves, minus 54 days granted every
year for good behavior. Also, when Perlitz is released from prison, he
must register as a sex offender, as well as spend anywhere from five
years to the rest of his life being supervised by the US. Probation
Department. Should he commit any crime while on supervision, he could
be sent back to prison for another five years." (Douglas Perlitz admits sexually abusing homeless Haiti boys by Ezili Dantà ² of HLLN .)
Ezili's HLLN
has worked diligently to give international voice to these children of
Haiti so that Mr. Perlitz's supporters were not the ones filling in the
vacuum in the US court, demeaning the victims, labeling them liars and
opportunists. We believe our efforts assisted, in some ways, in Mr.
Perlitz eventually pleading guilty, even after the case had been
dismissed in Connecticut, perhaps so he would not face the large
Haitian community in Brooklyn, New York where a warrant for his arrest
is issued and he was re-indicted.
You will remember that HLLN,
with the indispensable assistance of Lakou New York, brought up a bus
of Haitians from New York to stand in the courtroom, filled with Mr.
Perlitz supporters, to say no to his release on bond. We also conducted
an awareness raising campaign and had the Ezili Network write to Judge
Margolis to ask he not be released on bond. Moreover, we sent out
action alerts, from time to time, asking those interested in helping
meet the basic needs of these abused children, who now were back on the
streets, to contact Cyrus Sibert directly for guidance on how to donate
help. (See, Letter-writing campaign aims to keep Perlitz jailed By Michael P. Mayko, Connecticut Post, Oct. 14, 2009 ; Help Haiti's children - Demand that accused US pedophile, Doug Perlitz, not be set free on bond ; Perlitz
Court Date Moved, Groups Raise Awareness of Perlitz, O'Brien Cases by Tom Cleary, Fairfield Mirror, Oct. 15, 2009, The Collar of Impunity: Sexual abuse of Haiti children by Priests, Charity Workers, http://bit.ly/879eXs and UN Peacekeepers and Humanitarian Aid Workers raping, molesting and abusing Haitian children.)
In
addition, HLLN has kept the concerned Haiti public and concerned world
citizens updated on the course of the case as it went through the US
court system. The Ezili Network has acted as a sort of watcher - veyo yo -
in the traditional indigenous Haitian sense, to be sure the powerless
Haiti street children had an international voice and that the same
standards are used for our children as every other victim of sexual
abuse. When a few months ago, a U.S. newspaper published pictures of
the children victims in their paper, we protested the double standard
with a letter to the journalist. Victims in the US are protected and
shielded from such exposure.
We have had nothing but praises
for the hard work of the Federal prosecutors and investigators trying
this case and have often so written. (Douglas Perlitz admits sexually abusing homeless Haiti boys
by Ezili Dantà ² of HLLN .) But when, on November 21st, it was reported
that the Perlitz lawyers were attempting to postponed the December 21st
sentencing because of the cholera outbreak and demonstrations against
the United Nations in Cap Haitian, we wrote a public letter, objecting
to both the prosecutors and Perlitz lawyers characterizing of all the
mourning Haiti demonstrators and protesters legitimately accusing the
United Nations of importing cholera as "insurgents." Haitians
have the human right to self-defense and to protest when a foreign
substance imported, as the CDC says from South Asia, is killing their
children and families, en mass. This has been part of the public and
non-confidential work Ezili's HLLN has done on this case.
We
write now to urge that you write to the Honorable Janet Bond Arterton
at the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in New
Haven, USA, and ask the judge Arterton to sentence Douglas Perlitz to
the maximum years allowable under the law on December 21, 2010 and also
to request that if you are in the East Coast, USA, you come to the
court sentencing to show your solidarity with the children. Haiti has a
mostly non-functioning government. We are under UN occupation. But even
though disenfranchised Haitians have no government to stand for them in
such cases, concerned world citizens and Haitians living abroad, may
come to the sentencing on behalf of the people of Haiti to stand for
Haiti, for justice, for restitution.
The Douglas Perlitz sentencing is set
for December 21, 2010. We may not get another moment, as we are working
over-capacity right now, to raise this awareness again before that
date. So, please, if you are in the East Coast area and can make it to
court, come join the HLLN delegation and show your solidarity with the
powerless children of Haiti. These children will not know who you are,
as they mostly don't know us and all the work HLLN has done to push
their case forward to justice. We do this work in true solidarity as we
recognize our freedom and humanity depends on it. But if you sign and
mail or fax a letter (a sample you may personalized or use as is,
copied below) to the judge; if you can be present in court, these
Haitians with little voice and no power will know you are a Haitian or
decent world citizen who cares about the injustice done to Haiti's
defenseless people in the name of doing good works in Haiti.
We
recommend you arrive at 9 am to be seated in the court on December 21,
2010 at 141 Church Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06510. See contact
info below and asample letter for writing to Honorable Janet Bond
Arterton, United States District Judge, to ask Judge Arterton to
sentence Douglas Perlitz to the maximum sentence in jail.
Although
at this point in time, it looks like the December 21, 2010 sentencing
date will go forward, to be sure, if you are considering attending,
please check directly with the court the day before to assure yourself
the sentencing date has not been postponed.
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