Republicans Silent on Ohio Catholic Priest Being Found Guilty of Sex Trafficking
A Catholic priest in Ohio named Michael Zacharias has been found guilty of sex trafficking charges related to three victims, two of whom were minors when they were first sexually abused. The charges included coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, and sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion. Evidence presented during the trial showed that Zacharias paid victims to engage in sex acts with him and used their fear of serious harm to force compliance.
Zacharias first met his victims when he was a Seminarian at St. Catherine’s Catholic Parish school in Toledo, Ohio. He groomed the young boys for commercial sex acts, using his position as a priest and teacher to gain their trust and manipulate them into submission. When the victims developed opiate addictions, Zacharias proposed a trade of commercial sex for money that could be used to purchase more narcotics. The victims testified that they submitted to Zacharias' demands because they feared losing him as a father figure and friend, losing their connection to the Church and God, and suffering from opioid withdrawal symptoms.
The Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Kristen Clarke, called Zacharias' actions a betrayal of the victims in the most inhumane way. She said that he robbed them of their childhood, their dignity, and their faith, and inflicted cruel psychological harm on them. Special Agent in Charge Gregory Nelsen of the FBI Cleveland Field Office said that Zacharias not only abused his victims but also betrayed the trust placed in him by the congregation and those who serve parishes across the country.
Zacharias's sentencing has not been scheduled yet, but he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years and a lifetime maximum sentence. Restitution in this case is also mandatory under the law.
Michael Zacharias, a Catholic priest in Ohio, has been convicted by a federal jury of sex trafficking minors and adults
Despite this being purveyed by the Catholic Church which Republicans are known to consistently defend and stand up for, and despite republicans having a recent push culturally to stamp out pedophilia wherever it is seen, Republicans have staunchly refused to condemn the situation. This also comes as Republicans have continued their recent push to end Trans/human rights, with the reasoning being from the Republicans point of view that they might be sexualizing children. Despite Zacharias being entangled with the Republican party, and despite the republican party being in a unique juncture in which they have a special responsibility above other parties to condemn Zacharias and the catholic church, they have refused to do so. This all while condemning Trans individuals out of a fear of them solely doing something not quite as drastic as what the Republican side is already actively doing, and seemingly nothing more than that alone.