Haitian Police Detain U.S. Missionary Over Illegal Orphanage, Child Abuse Allegations

Haitian police announced Friday that a U.S. missionary accused of operating an unlicensed orphanage has been detained on child abuse allegations.

Cap-Haïtien police spokesperson Arold Jean said U.S. authorities arrested Thomas Osbeck on Wednesday, though he did not identify the specific agency involved.

It remains unclear whether Osbeck has secured legal representation. An Associated Press journalist was denied access to visit him in jail on Friday.

Jean stated that Osbeck lacked the required paperwork to operate an orphanage in Cap-Haïtien, where authorities located at least 12 minors. He added that he expects Osbeck to be extradited to the United States.

The detention comes nearly two weeks after U.S. authorities charged Maylon Foshee, 23, of Mansfield, Louisiana, with sexually abusing minors during mission trips to Haiti.

Authorities allege Foshee traveled to Haiti numerous times between 2023 and 2026 while working with a ministry in the coastal city of Gonaïves. He is accused of sexually abusing several minors under his care, including those who lived with him or received financial support from him.

Last year, a Miami jury convicted Michael Geilenfeld of sexually abusing boys at an orphanage he founded in Port-au-Prince.

Geilenfeld had pleaded not guilty. The orphanage, founded in 1985, was one of several he operated in Haiti and the Dominican Republic before its closure in 2014.

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