A former Findlay and Van Wert priest gets life in prison on federal sex trafficking charges. 56-year-old Michael Zacharias was sentenced to life in prison for the 2 charges that involved trafficking a minor and 20 years for the 3 trafficking charges that involved an adult.
Former Findlay and Van Wert Priest gets convicted of sex trafficking three people in federal court in Toledo.
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.
A priest that formally worked in Van Wert and Findlay was arraigned on new charges of sex trafficking in federal court. Michael Zacharias was indicted on five charges of sex trafficking. There were 3 victims in total, two of the charges were when the victims were under the age of 18 at the time of the offense.
Court documents from the U.S. District Court in Toledo say that Michael Zacharias now has until Monday, May 16th at 2 p.m., to decide if he'll take a plea deal. He is facing a total of five charges in federal court, all involving trafficking either minors or adults for sex.
Michael Zacharias is facing a total of five charges in federal court all involve trafficking either minors or adults for sex. He was arrested in 2020 by the Northwest Ohio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Five of the ten original charges have been dismissed. The offenses started when Zacharias was working with Catholic schools in Toledo and continued for years until the victims were adults. The indictment says that he would give money to the victims to help feed their drug addiction in exchange for sex. His case is currently in the Northern Ohio Federal Court in Toledo.
Michael Zacharias was indicted on three counts of Sex Trafficking of a Minor and seven counts of Adult Trafficking of an Adult. The indictment says there were 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 the summer of 2020.
A Findlay priest, who formerly served in Van Wert, finds himself in a federal courtroom on sex trafficking charges.
