10/29/12 - A Livingston County man accused of abusing poor boys at a residential center he ran in Haiti is asking that the charges against him be dropped due to a legal technicality. Matthew Andrew Carter of Brighton is charged with multiple counts of Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct. Authorities say the 66-year-old traveled from Florida to Haiti between October of 2001 and May of 2011 where he forced poor boys sheltered at the Morning Star Center in Port-au-Prince to engage in sexual conduct in exchange for gifts, money or continued care. Carter, who has been in custody since his arrest in May, 2011 in Miami, filed a motion last week in U.S. District Court in Southern Florida to dismiss the charges because he claims they were filed outside the statute of limitations. The current indictment against Carter was filed in January and cites four instances in which the alleged offenses were committed; the last being in February of 2006. Because the statute of limitations for the crime is five years, Carter maintains the indictment was filed too late and thus should be dismissed. No date has been set to rule on the motion, but Carterâs January trial date is still scheduled. (JK)
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