More Charges For Brighton Man In Haiti Child Sex Abuse
WASHINGTON (WWJ) - The Justice Department is filing more criminal charges against a Brighton man accused of sexual abuse of minors in Haiti.
A superseding indictment filed in Florida accuses Matthew Carter, who also went by the names of William Harcourt and Bill Carter, of four counts of traveling to a foreign country for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors.
Carter was arrested in May in Miami and is in jail.
The feds say Carter was operating a center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti when the alleged abuse occurred.
According to court documents, Carter allegedly required the child victims to engage in illicit sexual conduct in exchange for gifts or money or in order to remain at the center and continue receiving food, shelter and schooling.
"The acts that the defendant is charged with committing, quite simply, defy belief. As charged in the indictment, he preyed upon and terrorized impoverished Haitian children who were in dire need of the services offered by the Morning Star Center – the very children he was purporting to help," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, in a statement.
"As this indictment shows, we will not allow sexual predators to avoid facing justice by committing their crimes in foreign countries. Together with our law enforcement partners abroad, we are determined to combat the sexual abuse of children no matter where it occurs," he said.
If convicted, Carter faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for one count of child sex tourism and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for each of the other three child sex tourism counts.
