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The U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release on Friday that the priest received a life sentence for the crimes.
An Ohio priest was sentenced to life in prison Friday after being convicted of multiple sexual abuse charges earlier this year.
Parish priest Michael Zacharias was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking by a federal jury in the Northern District of Ohio in May.
The priest had been arrested in 2020 on the charges, which included “coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, and sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion.”
Father Zacharias had engaged in sexual conduct with minors since the late 1990s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said at the time.
Upon his conviction in May, he faced a minimum of 15 years in prison. The U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release on Friday that the priest received a life sentence for the crimes.
Luis Quesada, an assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, said in the release that Father Zacharias “met his victims when they were as young as 5 and began exploiting them for commercial sex acts and enabling their resulting opioid addictions.”
The release said the priest met the victims “when they were minor parochial school students through his affiliation with their school.”
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
An Ohio priest was sentenced to life in prison Friday after being convicted of multiple sexual abuse charges earlier this year.
Parish priest Michael Zacharias was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking by a federal jury in the Northern District of Ohio in May.
The priest had been arrested in 2020 on the charges, which included “coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, and sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion.”
Father Zacharias had engaged in sexual conduct with minors since the late 1990s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said at the time.
Upon his conviction in May, he faced a minimum of 15 years in prison. The U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release on Friday that the priest received a life sentence for the crimes.
Luis Quesada, an assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, said in the release that Father Zacharias “met his victims when they were as young as 5 and began exploiting them for commercial sex acts and enabling their resulting opioid addictions.”
The release said the priest met the victims “when they were minor parochial school students through his affiliation with their school.”
Continued below.
Ohio Priest Sentenced to Life in Prison for Sex Trafficking
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release on Friday that the priest received a life sentence for the crimes.
