1/7/13 - A federal judge has denied a motion filed by a Livingston County man accused of abusing poor boys at a residential center he ran in Haiti. 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 in November 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 last 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. But in a ruling filed late last month, Judge Joan Lenard ruled against the interpretation and denied the statute of limitations had expired. Carter is set to go to trial January 29th. (JK)
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