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Ohio Priest Arrested on Sex Trafficking Charges

FINDLAY — The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday arrested the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, alleging that he groomed and sexually assaulted minors for years, beginning in Toledo.

Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith said the Rev. Michael Zacharias, 53, is believed to have groomed and sexually assaulted minors since the late 1990s.

The Northwest Ohio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force took the priest into custody after he presided at a 7 a.m. Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Parish. Father Zacharias faces charges of coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, and sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion, according to court documents.

He participated Tuesday afternoon in an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Toledo. 

Read more at Toledo Blade

Click Here to read the full indictment (NOTE: Details included in this report are highly explicit and disturbing)

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