Former Ohio priest sentenced to life in prison for sex trafficking 3 boys
A former Ohio priest was recently sentenced to life in prison for sex trafficking three people in Northern Ohio.
A jury found Michael Zacharias, 56, of Findlay, guilty of five counts of sex trafficking after a two-week trial in May 2023, according to a news release issued by the Department of Justice.
During Friday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary also ordered Zacharias to serve 5 years of supervised release, pay a $500 special assessment and pay $25,000 pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.
Zacharias was training to be a priest at a Catholic school in Toledo in 1999 when he first met the victims — all students at the school — when they were ages 5, 11 and 13.
Two of the victims were minors when the abuse began and all three of the students were victimized well into adulthood.
According to evidence presented at trial, Zacharias took advantage of his position as a spiritual leader at the school and the victims’ addictions to opioids used to cope with the trauma of abuse to coerce three victims into engaging in commercial sex acts.
He preyed on the victims’ fears of opioid withdrawal to convince them to accept money for sexual acts. If one victim was in drug rehab or incarcerated, Zacharias hounded the other victims for sex, including his first victim’s youngest brother who was a high school freshman at the time.
Zacharias served as a priest in Northwest Ohio for more than 20 years, “while secretly exploiting his victims as they struggled in school, fell into opioid addiction, developed criminal histories, and became even more financially dependent on him to avoid opioid withdrawal and homelessness. Zacharias’s betrayal of the victims’ trust caused them serious psychological harm,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Michael Zacharias’s victims trusted him, as a spiritual advisor, a confidant, a community leader, and someone in a position of authority. He exploited his position and that trust to target and victimize young boys and their families, causing lasting damage to both,” said United States Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko. “Zacharias was held accountable because of the courageous testimony of these young men, who gave voice to his betrayal and abuse, relived this unimaginable horror, and withstood Zacharias’s predictable attempts at trial to attack their veracity. I applaud the bravery of these young men, the people who supported them, and the dogged efforts of the assigned FBI agent, who together exposed this predator, masquerading as a man of faith.”
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This story was originally published November 22, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
