MIAMI — An American missionary who spent nearly three decades caring for orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti faces federal charges in Miami accusing him of sexually abusing one boy and attempting to sexually abuse another, following an FBI investigation into allegations of misconduct spanning years at children’s homes he operated.

Thomas Edward Osbeck, 70, who founded two Christian ministries in Haiti and portrayed himself as a father figure to the boys in his care, is accused of exploiting his position of authority over vulnerable children, sometimes using money, privileges and promises of travel to the United States to pressure them into sexual activity, according to a 21-page criminal complaint filed Oct. 14 in the Southern District of Florida.

The investigation also revealed that Osbeck applied in May 2025 to become a foster parent in Florida, seeking to care for two children between the ages of 10 and 18. In his application questionnaire, he described having spent 27 years caring for homeless children in Haiti and claimed to have raised more than 100 children, according to an affidavit submitted by FBI Special Agent Cindy Barrois.

The filing does not establish whether Osbeck received a foster-parent license or whether any children were placed in his care in Florida.

Osbeck, who lives in Fort Myers, according to public records cited by WPLG Local 10 News, faces federal charges of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and attempting to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. The accusations involve two Haitians men who were minors at the time of the charged offenses, one between 2004-08 and the other between 2019-20.

The charges come after investigators interviewed several former residents of Osbeck’s children’s homes, examined communications and photographs recovered from his cellphone, and reviewed records documenting his repeated travel between Haiti and South Florida.

Osbeck made his initial appearance in Miami federal court on Oct. 15 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marty Elfenbein. At the time he was being held at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami.

Osbeck’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Evan L. Kuhl, filed a notice October 18 invoking his client’s rights to remain silent and to have counsel present during questioning. Kuhl declined to comment on the allegations, citing his office’s policy against discussing pending cases.

Court records indicate that the government’s request for temporary pretrial detention was granted, subject to reconsideration. A preliminary hearing or arraignment has been scheduled for Oct. 29.

Missionary known as ‘Pappy’

According to the FBI affidavit, Osbeck began working as a missionary in Haiti in the 1990s. He founded Jesus in Haiti Ministries in 1998 and directed the organization until 2015.

After leaving that ministry, he established Ignite Your Faith Ministries, a Christian organization operating in northern Haiti that provided care for orphaned and abandoned children.

One of its programs, known as Tom’s House, offered children food, clothing, education, health care and religious instruction, according to descriptions of the ministry’s website included in the affidavit.

The website described Osbeck as more than a missionary to the children.

“To these kids he is not just a missionary, he is their Pappy,” the website stated, according to the FBI.

Investigators said the ministry’s website listed Osbeck as its president as recently as October 2026 and described Tom’s House as caring for eight to 10 young men at a time. The website also indicated that Osbeck lived at the home and was known as “Papi.”

But allegations about his treatment of children had surfaced years earlier.

A former board member of Jesus in Haiti Ministries told the FBI that he first learned of sexual abuse allegations against Osbeck around 2010. According to the affidavit, the organization’s board eventually gave Osbeck an ultimatum in 2015: step down or remain in Haiti in a different capacity.

The complaint does not explain how the earlier allegations were investigated by the organization or whether they were reported to law enforcement at the time.

Allegations from former residents

One of the two alleged victims, a Haitian man born in 1996, told investigators that Osbeck sexually abused him repeatedly while he was growing up at a children’s home.

The man described incidents beginning when he was approximately 8 to 10 years old, including occasions when he said Osbeck forced him to touch his genitals. He also told investigators that Osbeck forced him to perform oral sex when he was approximately 11.

According to the affidavit, the alleged victim described how Osbeck used his control over allowances, outings and other privileges to pressure him into complying with sexual demands.

On one occasion, the man told investigators, Osbeck threatened to interfere with a small bracelet-making business he operated if he refused sexual favors.

He also said that when he was approximately 14 or 15, Osbeck offered to bring him to the United States in exchange for a sexual act. After he refused, the man said, he was not allowed to make the trip.

Investigators interviewed another witness who said he remembered seeing the boy leave Osbeck’s residence visibly upset and crying after one of the alleged incidents. The witness told the FBI that the boy immediately disclosed that Osbeck had forced him to perform oral sex.

The second alleged victim, born in 2003, told investigators that Osbeck began touching him in ways that made him uncomfortable after he moved into Tom’s House at approximately age 13.

The young man described an incident in 2019 or 2020, when he was about 16, in which Osbeck summoned him to his bedroom after a nighttime power outage.

According to the affidavit, the boy said Osbeck was wearing only underwear and blocked his exit when he attempted to leave. Osbeck grabbed his hand and tried to place it on his genitals, the boy said, but he pulled away and refused.

The affidavit also describes allegations that Osbeck touched the boy’s bare chest while he played soccer without a shirt and later sent him a message saying, “I like it when you take your shirt off.”

Investigators interviewed other former residents who described unwanted touching, sexually suggestive messages and requests for photographs.

One former resident told investigators that Osbeck repeatedly touched his back and legs despite being asked to stop. Another said Osbeck sent him messages requesting photographs and eventually expelled him from the home after he refused to provide one.

The additional accounts are described in the affidavit but are not themselves the basis of the two offenses charged in the criminal complaint.

Florida foster-parent application

In the state application, Osbeck identified five young Haitian men he had raised who were then living in the United States. Investigators subsequently located and interviewed them, including one of the alleged victims.

The timing is significant because the FBI investigation had begun weeks earlier.

According to the affidavit, federal agents opened their investigation after receiving a complaint on March 25, 2025, from a representative of a nonprofit organization working against human trafficking and exploitation.

The organization reported suspicions that Osbeck had traveled from the United States to Haiti to engage in illicit sexual conduct with minors.

The affidavit does not indicate whether Florida child-welfare authorities knew about the allegations when Osbeck submitted his foster-parent questionnaire.

Cellphone evidence

Federal investigators obtained additional evidence after Osbeck arrived at Miami International Airport from Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, on June 26, 2025.

Customs and Border Protection officers referred him for a secondary inspection, during which Homeland Security Investigations personnel examined an Apple iPhone in his possession.

The preliminary inspection revealed numerous photographs of Haitian children and young men, including images investigators believed had been taken at Tom’s House.

Investigators also found screenshots of social media photographs showing former residents without shirts, as well as records containing children’s names and dates of birth.

A subsequent search warrant authorized a forensic examination of the phone.

According to the affidavit, investigators recovered WhatsApp conversations between Osbeck and a former resident that included affectionate and sexually suggestive remarks, discussions about money and references to bringing the individual to Florida.

In one exchange in June 2025, Osbeck allegedly wrote, “I’d pay anything to get u to Florida.” The affidavit does not establish that the recipient was a minor at the time of the conversation.

The FBI also reviewed records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection documenting Osbeck’s repeated travel between Haiti and South Florida during the periods covered by the allegations.

The affidavit states that he traveled between Haiti and South Florida about a dozen times between August 2005 and November 2008, and three times between November 2019 and September 2020.

Haitian authorities inspect children’s home

On September 30, 2026, officers from Haiti’s Brigade for the Protection of Minors, assisted by the country’s Institute of Social Welfare and Research, conducted an operation at Ignite Your Faith Ministries in Cap-Haïtien following reports of child exploitation and concerns that the facility was operating without authorization, according to the FBI affidavit.

Arold Jean, a spokesperson for the Cap-Haïtien police department, told The Associated Press that Osbeck was detained on Sept. 30 and that authorities had discovered sexually explicit messages sent to children during an examination of his cellphone.

Jean also said at least a dozen children underwent medical examinations and that Osbeck lacked the documentation required to operate an orphanage. At the time, Haitian authorities expected him to be extradited to the United States.

Investigators found that the facility had no operating license, lacked legal documentation concerning the placement of children and maintained no registry of those admitted, according to the affidavit.

The inspection also found that the home lacked qualified social workers, psychologists and medical personnel. Authorities reported inadequate sleeping arrangements, poor maintenance and insufficient food-storage facilities.

The home’s director reported that nine minors were living there, but investigators identified 14 children between the ages of 7 and 17, including two biological children of the director.

Some children were reportedly sleeping on the floor.

The affidavit states that the children were taken to a medical facility for evaluation following the operation.

Osbeck and the home’s Haitian director were placed in custody in connection with the operation, according to the affidavit.

Federal travel records subsequently showed Osbeck boarding a flight scheduled to arrive in Miami on Oct 14. He appeared in Miami federal court the following day, although the available records do not establish whether he was formally extradited, deported or otherwise transferred from Haitian custody.

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