In a shocking turn of events, an Ohio priest, who was apprehended last year, has been convicted by a federal jury of the heinous crime of sex trafficking of a minor.Information Guide Nigeria
The verdict carries with it the possibility of a life sentence, leaving the disgraced clergyman’s future hanging in the balance.
Michael J. Zacharias, 56, of Findlay, Ohio, was charged with five sex trafficking charges, including of a minor and of an adult by force, fraud, coercion, or enticement.
Zacharias, a priest at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Findlay, Ohio, has been found guilty by the Department of Justice of trafficking three victims during their formative years and beyond. The ordained priest, who has been serving since 2002, has been convicted of these heinous crimes.JAMB Portal
The jury was presented evidence in court showing how he met the victims when they were young. During that period, Zacharias was enrolled in Seminary school at St. Catherine’s Catholic Parish School located in Toledo.
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A criminal complaint said investigators are aware that his alleged sexual conduct with minors goes back to the late 1990s.
Zacharias started grooming the victims for commercial sex acts when they were young, the DOJ said, and used his position as a priest and teacher to integrate himself into the boys’ lives as a person of trust.
It was gathered that the victims gave into Zacharias and conversations turned sexual before he became sexual with the boys.
Also, during that time, all three boys developed addictions to opiates, starting out first with pain medications, then later, heroin.
The trial’s testimonies from the victims revealed the disturbingly effortless manner in which they succumbed to Zacharias’ advances. The boys feared losing him as a father figure and friend but also feared losing their connection to God and going through opioid withdrawal because Zacharias was giving them money to buy drugs.
In a shocking testimony, one of the victims revealed his fear that the accused, Zacharias, would exploit his younger brother, who was not only a minor but also a victim, and potentially others if he did not acquiesce to the defendant’s demands for sexual favours in exchange for money.NYSC Portal\
