A federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment Friday against the Rev. Michael Zacharias for sexual abuse of minors.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Father Zacharias, 53, then the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Findlay, in August. Agents alleged that he had groomed and sexually assaulted minors beginning in the 1990s, when he was a seminarian in Toledo.
A criminal complaint filed against him at the time referenced two unnamed victims, whom the priest allegedly began to groom when they were students at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Toledo. The behavior continued with of one of the victims until as recently as July.
Authorities identify victims by four separate sets of initials in the indictment, which expands on his initial list of charges. The 10-count indictment breaks down to one count of sex trafficking of a minor; two counts of sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud or coercion, and seven counts of sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion.
“This defendant is accused of using his status and position as a religious and community leader to seek out troubled minors and exploit their personal challenges for his own satisfaction,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said in a statement. “This indictment is a step towards finding justice for the victims, families and community harmed by the defendant and his alleged acts.”
Investigators continue to encourage anyone that may have been groomed or victimized by Father Zacharias to contact the FBI at 216-622-6842.
Court documents lay out a series of alleged abuses between about 1999 and July, 2020. Father Zacharias served during that period of time as a seminarian and as a priest at various parishes throughout the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo.
He completed seminary at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana, The Blade reported around the time of his ordination in 2002.
Father Zacharias is accused of using his position to groom underage victims, a process by which an abuser establishes a connection and secures the trust of a victim, and then coercing them into performing sex acts, according to court documents and to a press release announcing the indictment on Friday. He is more specifically accused of leveraging the drug addiction of his victims in order to coerce them into performing sex acts in exchange for money.
In the case of at least one victim, he is accused of continuing such a relationship as the initially underage victim became an adult. That's as recently as July, when court documents describe an exchange between the two at Father Zacharias’ diocese-owned residence in Findlay.
In another instance, according to a press release, Father Zacharias is accused of grooming the underage sibling of one of his victims into a similar relationship.
The Diocese of Toledo put Father Zacharias on administrative leave effective immediately upon hearing word of his arrest in August. Bishop Thomas informed the St. Michael the Archangel Parish within the week that he had resigned from their parish.
The Diocese of Toledo previously released an assignment history for Father Zacharias. He served at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Toledo as a seminarian between 1999 and 2000; St. Peter Parish in Mansfield, Ohio as an associate pastor between 2002 and 2007; St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Van Wert as pastor between 2007 and 2011, and St. Joseph and St. Ann Parishes in Fremont, according to the Diocese of Toledo.
As a seminarian, he additionally spent time at the following parishes in the late 1990s: St. Charles Parish in Toledo, St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg, and St. Mary Parish in Sandusky.
First Published October 23, 2020, 8:55 p.m.
