FINDLAY, OH (WLIO) - A former priest who worked in Van Wert and Findlay has his trial pushed back until this spring on multiple sex trafficking charges.
55-year-old Michael Zacharias has his trial scheduled for May 2, 2023. Last month he was indicted on five charges of sex trafficking, three charges involved a minor and two an adult. There were three alleged victims and he pleaded not guilty to the charges which replaced charges he faced when he was arrested in 2020.
According to the affidavit, there were at least two victims the priest met while he was in the seminary, both minors at a Catholic school in Toledo. The alleged incidents started in 1999 and went on until 2020. Court documents say the victims had drug problems that Zacharias exploited for sexual favors over 20 years. He was arrested by FBI agents while he was serving in Findlay in August of 2020.
