Michael Karl Geilenfeld, a Colorado man who established an orphanage in Haiti forty years ago, will serve the remainder of his life in jail after being found guilty of sexually, physically, and emotionally abusing several children in his organization's care.
A federal jury found Littleton resident Michael Karl Geilenfeld, 73, guilty of multiple charges at the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in the Caribbean, and the Department of Justice announced on May 23 that Geilenfeld will receive a sentence of 210 years in jail. He was taken into custody in January 2024 in Colorado.
According to a statement from the Justice Department, Geilenfeld was found guilty in February of six charges of engaging in unlawful sexual activity abroad and one count of traveling in foreign commerce with a purpose to take part in illicit sexual conduct.
Six different victims, each of whom was a kid at the orphanage from 2005 to 2010, are connected to each of the six counts of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct. All six of the victims, who are now adults, testified against Geilenfeld and other former victims.
In a press release, FBI Assistant Director Jose A. Perez said, “For decades, Geilenfeld used his position of trust and access to exploit vulnerable children under the guise of humanitarian work.”
{{/usCountry}}In a press release, FBI Assistant Director Jose A. Perez said, “For decades, Geilenfeld used his position of trust and access to exploit vulnerable children under the guise of humanitarian work.”
{{/usCountry}}“We are grateful to those victims who came forward to report their abuse. The FBI is committed to pursuing those who commit crimes against children no matter where they occur or how long ago they were committed.”
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Who is Geilenfeld? Here's what we know about St. Joseph's Home for Boys
According to the Justice Department, Geilenfeld established the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in 1985 and ran it for more than 20 years. Prosecutors claimed that he frequently traveled back and forth between the US and Haiti, where he sexually assaulted the kids at the orphanage under his supervision.
Prosecutors claimed that Geilenfeld also mentally and physically mistreated the children in the house. Witnesses and victims stated that Geilenfeld used deceitful methods to guarantee funding for his orphanage.
“The defendant’s sustained sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of some of the most vulnerable children in the world is intolerable,” stated Matthew Galeotti, the head of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department.
Victims narrate abuse
During their court testimony, victims described abuse. One of the male victims who testified in the case claimed that Geilengeld had molested him when he was just 12 years old, as per the Miami Herald.
The man said that Geilenfeld took him into his bedroom to “help him learn a prayer.” He, however, made him sit down in a chair, kissed him on mouth, caressed his genitalia, and attempted to have sex with him, according to the Miami Herald.
Geilenfeld reportedly created a new orphanage in the Dominican Republic and ran several in Haiti until 2014.
Meanwhile, court documents obtained by USA TODAY reveal that US Customs and Border Patrol officers discovered pictures of the victims in 2019, when Geilenfeld was flying to the Dominican Republic via Miami International Airport.