A Connecticut man accused of sexually abusing more than 100 impoverished Haitian boys through a charity he founded has been accused of violating terms of his release from prison by associating with another convicted sex offender and accessing online pornography.

Fifteen years ago, Douglas Perlitz was at the center of a notorious abuse case that became a model for federal efforts to track down and prosecute U.S. citizens who exploit children on foreign soil.

Perlitz founded and directed Project Pierre Toussaint, an orphanage in Haiti’s north coast city of Cap-Haitien. He admitted and later was convicted of using the orphanage, closely associated with Fairfield University, his alma mater, and the Catholic Church, to extort years of sexual favors from destitute children.

He was accused of threatening to expel children from his charity’s housing and return them to the streets if they refused his demands.

A federal court in 2019 approved a settlement in which as many as 170 children abused over a decade by Perlitz would share more than $60 million to be paid by the university and others of Perlitz’s religious sponsors who were accused in a suit of failing to take precautions that would have prevented the abuse.

Perlitz was in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport Tuesday on a complaint by his federal probation officer that he violated conditions placed on his behavior after his release from a 19 1/2 year sentence imposed in 2010. He was released to a halfway house last year after serving 15 years.

Federal prosecutors asked that Perlitz be incarcerated or subject to home confinement pending an inquiry into the complaint that he violated the conditions of his release from prison. Underhill declined to detain Perlitz, but added a new condition of release that prohibits purchase or use of any new smart communication devices. A follow-up hearing on the complaint has yet to be scheduled.

He admitted earlier this month, while undergoing a polygraph examination, to buying an unauthorized smart phone and using it to “access adult pornography websites” and engage in “a sexually explicit video chat” with a former prison inmate. He said he disposed of the phone two days after buying it, according to a court filing.

In addition, Perlitz admitted during the polygraph examination that he continued to communicate with a currently incarcerated sex offender he met in prison in spite of being told to stop by probation officials.

Perlitz pleaded guilty in 2010 to traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to submit to 10 years of supervised release. According to court records, Perlitz continues to live in a halfway house, which is supposed to be transitional, post prison residence, because he has been unable to find a landlord who will rent to him.

U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill, who is hearing the supervised release violation, has a variety of options, running from a reprimand to incarceration.

Perlitz is a 1992 graduate of Fairfield University. A decade later, while operating the orphanage, he delivered the school’s commencement address and received an honorary degree. Students, faculty and alumni were major contributors to the Perlitz organization.

The orphanage offered boys as young as 6 years old homes, food, clothing, shoes, water to bathe in, sporting activities and basic education. Federal officials said that, in some cases, Perlitz bribed children with gifts and money and, in others, he threatened them if they refused his demands.

Until his arrest, Perlitz spent most of his time since 1991 in Haiti. He has claimed he was inspired to open a school for street children during his first visit to the country.

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