Federal Agents Help Bring Serial Abuser Who Founded Haiti Orphanage to Justice
Federal agents played a key role in bringing a Colorado man to justice for multiple sex abuse crimes at an orphanage he founded in Haiti.
Michael Karl Geilenfeld was sentenced to 210 years in prison after being convicted by a federal jury in Miami.
Geilenfeld founded and operated St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Haiti in 1985, and operated the orphanage for more than two decades. St. Joseph’s was billed as a home for orphaned, impoverished, and otherwise vulnerable children in Haiti.
During that time, prosecutors say Geilenfeld made numerous trips to Haiti from the United States where he sexually abused the boys entrusted to his care. In addition, prosecutors say he physically and emotionally abused the boys, threatening them and manipulating them.
“The defendant’s sustained sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of some of the most vulnerable children in the world is intolerable,” said Matthew Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This prosecution demonstrates the Department’s commitment to securing justice for children harmed by criminals who travel abroad from the United States to commit their crimes.”
Geilenfeld was convicted in February 2025 of one count of traveling in foreign commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, as well as six counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.
All six of the victims in the case testified at trial, as did other victims who were not subject to the related charges.
“This orphanage destroyed my childhood,” a victim testified at trial as reported by the Miami Herald. “There is no amount of love that can make me forget.”
“For decades, Geilenfeld used his position of trust and access to exploit vulnerable children under the guise of humanitarian work. We are grateful to those victims who came forward to report their abuse,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI investigated the case.