‘Worst of the worst’: Judge sentences founder of Haiti orphanage to 210 years for decades of child sex abuse

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A federal judge on Friday sentenced the 73-year-old founder of a Haitian orphanage to 210 years in prison after calling him the “worst of the worst” in a devastating child sex abuse case that spanned decades and left victims emotionally shattered across the globe.

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Michael Geilenfeld, of Iowa, showed no remorse during the hours-long sentencing hearing in a Miami-Dade courtroom, where survivors described through tears the violent sexual abuse they suffered as children at the hands of a man they were told to trust. They had flown in from around the globe to confront him face-to-face.

“The defendant preyed upon some of the most vulnerable children in the world,” the judge said, as his voice rose in anger. “Nine-year-olds — he dominated them. He used the color of his skin. He used the affect of being a man of God by preying on children who had nowhere else to go. They are the purest of victims this court has ever seen — and I think ever will.”

“If you compare this man (against other sex crimes cases), this is the worst of the worst,” the judge added. “Ever since I started doing these cases, nothing like this. Not even close. There has to be scores, if not hundreds, of others (victims).”

The courtroom gallery erupted in applause as the sentence was handed down.

“You beat him,” the judge told the victims directly. “He did not beat you — you beat him.”

Hear from abuse survivor Daniel Madrigal in the video below.

“We beat him, but it takes so long, but it is the only place we could do that is the United States of America. He got locked up in DR (Dominican Republic), he got up in Haiti,” said Madrigal. “He bought the whole police department, the politicians, because those countries are very corrupt. I am so happy we are living in the United States, where justice is served. He can’t buy that judge so the justice was served. Thank you, God, and thank you guys.”

Geilenfeld was convicted earlier this year on seven counts of traveling in foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors, each carrying a maximum sentence of 30 years.

The judge imposed the full 2,520-month sentence — 210 years in total — followed by supervised release for life.

Federal investigators say Geilenfeld opened the orphanage in 1985 and repeatedly traveled from Miami to Haiti between 2006 and 2010, using the St. Joseph‘s Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince as a front to prey on vulnerable children.

Detectives said he “physically and emotionally abused the children in the home, including through physical assault and other forms of punishment.”

“He was opening and operating an orphanage to prey on some of the most vulnerable children in the world,” Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Miami told Local 10’S Christina Vazquez back in February. “We believe he was traveling down to Haiti in order to sexually exploit children using the orphanages he ran as a cover.”

The courtroom turned emotional Friday as survivors of the abuse spoke directly to the judge — and to Geilenfeld.

“My name is Robert. I have been waiting for what feels like eternity for this moment,” one survivor said, his voice trembling as he read from a prepared statement.

Now living in Scotland, Robert said he returned to the U.S. just to attend Geilenfeld‘s sentencing.

“Michael — you are a coward. You are a man that has no soul because even now you can’t get up and apologize to the guys here,” he said in part. “You told every visitor we were ‘street kids’ and not to believe anything we said. You really have to be a diabolical psychopath to target orphans.”

Robert described years of emotional and physical trauma that left him feeling broken.

“You stole the one thing that you can never put right -- you stole my identity, you stole who I am -- that, you can never make good,” he said.

Another victim testified that the abuse left him feeling like “a living corpse.”

“This kind of victimization makes me feel as someone who is living but has already died,” he said through a Creole interpreter. “I look like a human being, but inside, I am already dead.”

Others described suffering in silence for years — afraid to speak out due to shame or fear of retribution.

One survivor said Geilenfeld continued to abuse children even after claiming he had stopped. He also said Geilenfeld pressured him to lie and write a letter defending him when investigators began asking questions.

“Because in Haiti, if you tell someone that is what happened to you, they tell you that is what you are. As a child, it causes a lot of pain,” the survivor stated.

Another survivor shared his experience of enduring sexual abuse from a very young age and begged the court for psychological help.

“I am someone who suffered a lot,” he said. “Sometimes I am sleeping and jump out of my sleep. I ask God sometimes, Why did this happen to me?’”

Several victims asked the judge for access to therapy, saying the trauma they endured still disrupts their daily lives and dreams.

“You may not have a child who was victim of this situation, but if you could go inside that victim, could see what is going on inside the mind, I believe you would cry,” the victim stated. “This orphanage destroyed my childhood. There is no amount of money, there is no about of love, that could make me forget that situation.”

The judge also took aim at Geilenfeld‘s refusal to accept responsibility.

“He testified and lied,” the judge said. “That says all you need to know about this defendant.”

Prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentence to send a clear message to predators who seek to exploit charity as a cover for abuse.

Geilenfeld’s defense attorney called the sentence “excessive” since his client is 73-years-old with “health issues.”

Salisbury said the case has prompted a renewed effort by federal authorities to raise awareness within South Florida‘s Haitian-American community.

“We have concerns that this subject had access to hundreds of children over the years who would be young adults at this time,” Salisbury told Local 10 News. “So, if you believe you are a victim of any exploitation by this individual … we want you to contact us.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Homeland Security Investigations at 877-4-HSI-TIP.

Survivors hope that seeing Geilenfeld held fully accountable will help them begin to heal.

“Lock him up and throw away the key,” Robert pleaded, breaking down in tears. “Locking him up at max sentence will help with our healing.”

Many expressed gratitude to the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations in Miami — in part because Geilenfeld had long avoided accountability in Haiti, and federal investigators and prosecutors were the ones who finally brought him to justice.

Detectives say this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

Hearts with Haiti, a North Carolina-based nonprofit that allegedly supported the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys during Geilenfeld’s years of abuse, issued this statement, in part: