A 39-year-old man who founded and directed Project Pierre Toussaint, a boys school in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, has been indicted on charges he sexually assaulted poor Haitian children.

Douglas Perlitz was charged with seven counts of traveling outside the United States with intent to engage in sexual conduct with children and three counts of engaging in sexual conduct in foreign places with children.

On Wednesday, Perlitz was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his home in Eagle. Following his arrest, he appeared before U.S. Magistrate Boyd N. Boland in Denver and has been detained pending a detention hearing tomorrow.

Before moving to Colorado in July, Perlitz lived in Fairfield County, Conn.

“This defendant is alleged to have used his position of power to manipulate and sexually abuse vulnerable boys for nearly a decade,” said Nora Dannehy, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.

The indictment alleged that about 1997, Perlitz obtained funding from the Order of Malta to found Project Pierre Toussaint in Cap-Haitien, on the north coast of Haiti.

The program provided services to children of all ages, most of them street children as young as six. The services included meals, sports activities, classroom instruction and access to running water for baths.

The program expanded, and in 1999 a residential facility called the Village Pierre Toussaint was added.

In 2007, the 14th Street facility, a residential program for high school-age children, was established.

Perlitz individually chose all of the children who resided at the 14th Street facility, according to investigators. The children were given tutors, special cooking arrangements, high-end electronics and other amenities.

The indictment alleged that over the years, Perlitz had illicit sexual contact with nine boys.

In order to entice them to engage in sex acts, he promised them food, shelter, money and other benefits including cell phones, electronics, shoes, clothes, and other items.

The victims were not identified by name.

But the grand jury said that, for example, he used cash to entice a boy identified as D.C. to engage in sex. He also allegedly told D.C. he could remain at the boy’s school even if he failed his classes.

In another case, a boy identified as F.J. was enticed to engage in sex acts because Perlitz gave him and his family money and other gifts.

“As part of his grooming process, Perlitz would take a minor to a restaurant where he would provide the minor with food and alcohol and then encourage the minor to spend the night in his (Perlitz’s) bedrooom…so that he could sexually abuse him,” said the indictment.

If the minors refused to engage in sex acts, Perlitz would at times withhold benefits or threaten to expel them from the program.

The investigation into Perlitz is on-going, according to federal officials.

If convicted, Perlitz faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count of the indictment.

The matter was investigated ICE offices in New Haven, Grand Junction, ICE International Affairs in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. State Department.

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com