A man who filed a successful defamation lawsuit against a Freeport resident in 2015 has been arrested in Denver. He faces charges that he sexually abused children in Haiti — the same allegations that were the subject of his defamation lawsuit in Maine.
In court documents, federal prosecutors allege that Michael Geilenfeld traveled from Miami to Haiti from Nov. 2006 to Dec. 2010 to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Geilenfeld is the founder of the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in Haiti, an orphanage that has since closed.
It's not the first time Geilenfeld has been accused of sexually abusing minors. He faced similar allegations in Haiti, and Maine resident Paul Kendrick of Freeport also accused Geilenfeld of abuse. Kendrick was a vocal advocate for sexual abuse victims in the wake of the Catholic priest abuse scandal in the '90s. He sent hundreds of emails to third parties with his accusations against Geilenfeld.
That prompted Geilenfeld to file a defamation suit.
Kendrick ultimately settled the case, and agreed to pay the charity Hearts with Haiti, which supported Geilenfeld's orphanage, $3 million.
Geilenfeld is scheduled to appear in a Denver court Thursday afternoon for an initial hearing. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
