Priest's sex trafficking trial postponed

A jury trial for a former St. Michael the Archangel pastor, charged with sex trafficking of children and adults, has been postponed to May 2. The trial, in U.S. District Court in Toledo, had been set to start Feb. 6. Michael J. Zacharias, 55, faces two counts of sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud and coercion; and three counts of sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud and coercion. The charges allege that there were three male victims. One was allegedly sex trafficked as a minor from July 2005 to July 2006, and then as an adult from July 2006 to August 2020. A second was allegedly sex trafficked as a minor from May 2010 to June 2012, and then as an adult from June 2012 to December 2013. A third was allegedly sex trafficked as an adult from September 2008 to August 2020. Alleged offenses involve two former students of Catholic schools in Toledo. Zacharias is alleged to have preyed upon boys, and later men, who needed money for their drug addictions. In fact, it was through a drug investigation of one of the victims, now 34, that investigators happened upon Zacharias, court records stated. Ordained as a priest in 2002, Zacharias served over the years at St. Catherine's of Siena in Toledo; St. Peter's Catholic Church in Mansfield; St. Mary's of the Assumption in Van Wert; and St. Ann and St. Joseph Parishes in Fremont, where he served as dean of the Saint Philomena Deanery and was a member of the diocesan College of Consultors. During his tenure as pastor in Fremont, Zacharias was an integral part of the leadership for Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School. In February 2017, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of the Diocese of Toledo appointed Zacharias to serve as the 24th pastor of Saint Michael the Archangel Parish. St. Michael's School is located on the church campus on Bright Road. Students at the private school range from preschool to eighth grade. Zacharias was indicted in October 2020. He was taken into federal custody in August 2020 by the Northwest Ohio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.