PORTLAND, Maine — The slander suit scheduled for trial Oct. 7 in federal court has been continued for at least three months because a plaintiff remains jailed in Haiti after being accused of sexually abusing children.
Michael Geilenfeld, executive director of St. Joseph Family of Haiti and a former Catholic brother, was detained Sept. 5 by police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his Maine attorney, Russell Pierce of Portland, confirmed Sept. 9.
“He’s been detained without an arrest warrant,” Pierce said then. “It’s arbitrary, illegal and it was done without proof and no due process.”
No new information has been released about Geilenfeld since his arrest, including whether he’s facing criminal charges or not.
Last week, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock granted an oral motion made by Geilenfeld’s Portland attorneys to continue the October trial for 90 days over the objection of defense attorneys, according to information posted on the court’s electronic case filing system.
Hearts With Haiti Inc., based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Geilenfeld, 62, of Port-au-Prince in February sued Paul Kendrick, 64, of Freeport. The plaintiffs alleged that Kendrick’s false allegations that Geilenfeld has sexually abused children defamed Geilenfeld, a U.S. citizen, and the organization, causing fundraising events in the U.S. to be canceled.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs asked Woodcock to order Kendrick to stop making the statements and to remove all those that have been published on the Internet. The lawsuit also sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
After Geilenfeld’s arrest, Kendrick, who has advocated for years on behalf of survivors of clergy abuse, praised Haitian authorities for their actions.
“It is encouraging that the government of Haiti is being proactive and vigilant in protecting children from being sexually abused,” he said in an email to the Bangor Daily News.
Earlier this month, Geilenfeld’s Portland attorney Russell Pierce called the timing of his client being taken into custody “suspicious.”
Also pending before Woodcock is a 46-page plaintiff’s motion, filed Friday, that asked the judge to impose sanctions on Kendrick for allegedly revealing confidential information he learned of through the discovery process. Attorneys are asking that Kendrick pay for preparation of the motion and a monetary penalty, according to court documents.
Kendrick’s attorneys must reply to the motion by Oct. 3.
Whether Woodcock will rule on the motion while Geilenfeld is detained could not be determined over the weekend.