Colorado Man Sentenced to 210 Years for Decades of Child Abuse at Haitian Orphanage He Founded

A 73-year-old Colorado man has been sentenced to 210 years in federal prison for the serial abuse of children living at a Haitian orphanage he founded decades ago.

Michael Karl Geilenfeld, once a seemingly benevolent figure hailed for his missionary work, was unmasked in court as a predator who weaponized his position of power at St. Joseph's Home for Boys — an institution he established in 1985 in Port-au-Prince for vulnerable children in Haiti. Far from the safety and care the home promised, it became a place of prolonged torment for the boys under his supervision.

According to trial testimony and court documents, Geilenfeld repeatedly traveled between the United States and Haiti over more than two decades, time during which he sexually assaulted numerous children at the orphanage. The abuse — both physical and psychological — was sustained by his manipulation of donors and supporters who unknowingly funded his crimes, per court testimony.

In February 2025 a federal jury convicted Geilenfeld of one count of traveling internationally to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and six separate counts of engaging in such conduct in a foreign country. Each charge was tied to a distinct victim — all of them children at the time of the offenses, which occurred between 2005 and 2010.

During the harrowing trial, six primary victims gave firsthand accounts of the trauma they endured, supported by testimony from other now-adult survivors who were not part of the official charges. Their stories painted a graphic picture of abuse, intimidation, and exploitation perpetuated by a man who styled himself as their savior.

This sentencing comes amid a broader child protection crisis in Haiti. According to a recent UNICEF report, Haiti has seen a 1,000 percent increase in sexual violence against children between 2023 and 2024, amid escalating control by armed groups over 85 percent of Port-au-Prince. These groups are increasingly recruiting children—some as young as eight—through coercion, manipulation, or poverty, contributing to a surge in displacement, with over 500,000 children forced from their homes and 1.2 million living under the daily threat of violence.