WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, CMC – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has indicted an American missionary on charges of child exploitation in Haiti.
The DOJ said Thomas Osbeck, 70, of Fort Myers, Florida, is accused of engaging in, and attempting to engage in, illicit sexual conduct with minors in the French-speaking Caribbean nation.
According to court documents, Osbeck routinely travelled from the United States to Haiti over the past three decades, during which he allegedly sexually abused minors.
Osbeck founded Jesus in Haiti Ministries and later Ignite Your Faith Ministries, organisations through which he took in vulnerable children across Haiti, the DOJ said.
The indictment stems from allegations that Osbeck sexually abused a Haitian boy between 2004 and 2008, when the child was approximately eight to 12 years old.
He is also accused of attempting to engage in a commercial sex act with another Haitian boy between 2019 and 2020.
The DOJ said Osbeck was taken into custody in Haiti in late September 2026 following an investigation by Haitian authorities.
He was returned to the United States on October 14 and arrested by US law enforcement officers upon arrival at Miami International Airport.
Osbeck has remained in custody since his arrest.
“Investigators believe Osbeck has victimized additional children,” the DOJ said.
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