Zacharias
File photo | The Lima News
TOLEDO — Testimony continued Thursday in the trial of Michael Zacharias, a former priest charged with sex trafficking offenses, in the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio.
A federal grand jury indicted Zacharias in August 2020 on 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.
He had been pastor at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Findlay since 2017 at the time of his arrest and had previously served as pastor at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Van Wert, where at least some of the sexual acts allegedly took place, according to the federal indictment.
According to published accounts, three men testified during the trial’s first five days that Zacharias groomed then for sexual activity when they were minors.
The Findlay Courier reported that a former student at St. Michael’s Catholic School in Findlay testified Tuesday that the former priest began cultivating a relationship when the boy was in eighth grade.
Other testimony on Tuesday came from FBI agents who presented various phone and computer records to corroborate the testimony of the alleged victim, the newspaper reported.
Bishop Daniel Thomas had placed Zacharias on administrative leave on Aug. 18, 2020 immediately after his arrest.
