PORTLAND, Maine - A Portland jury has ruled in favor of Haiti orphanage founder Michael Geilenfeld in his defamation lawsuit against Freeport activist Paul Kendrick.
The jury recommended that Geilenfeld be awarded $7 million in damages and that a related North Carolina-based charity known as Hearts of Haiti be awarded $7.5 million dollars in damages.
Paul Kendrick had accused Michael Gielenfeld, the founder of St. Joseph's Home for Boys in Port au Prince, of being a serial pedophile, an accusation Gielenfeld vehemently denied. Gielenfeld said Kendrick was a cyber-bully and vigilante whose accusations caused him to be falsely imprisoned for 237 days and cost Hearts of Haiti $2 million in donations.
Patty Wight has been covering the trial and joined Maine Things Considered host Nora Flaherty with more background on the case shortly before the verdict was announced.
