A call for pressure on the U.S. State Department to force the closure of an orphanage on the outskirts of Haiti.

Ten members of the U.S. Senate say several children at the orphanage have been sexually abused and some have tested positive for Chlamydia.

American families are adopting several of the children.

The Senators have sent a letter dated January 29th to the Deputy Secretary of State.

Orphanage director Eveline Louis-Jacques said last Friday several children in her care had tested positive for Chlamydia but it hasn’t been confirmed that they contracted the infection while at the home.

She denied any abuse has occurred there.

The orphanage is known as the Foyer Notre Dame de La Nativite.

In their letter the senators said while Haiti’s Social Services Agency has had an ongoing investigation into the orphanage for more than a year, nothing has been done to stop the abuse the director of the orphanage said the children are very well treated and they are not in an orphanage; they are in her house, with her.

The orphanage was the site of tragedy during the devastating January 2010 earthquake when nearly 70 children died there during the disaster.

There are now 60 children, from ages 1 to 16. Mrs. Louis-Jacques, a former bank executive, runs it with her husband of 42 years and a mostly female staff.

The Senate letter said the State Department should not only push Haiti to close the home and relocate the children but also expedite visas and passports for approved adoption cases.