Former Ohio missionary accused of sexually abusing 4 children in Haiti

A former missionary from an Ohio-based ministry has been convicted of federal charges of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with four different minors. haiti Over many years.

Jeria Mast, 44, of Millersburg. ohioWas convicted of alleged actions during several of his visits to Haiti between 2002 and 2019. Mast — who admitted to abusing about 30 victims in Haiti and more victims in Ohio, according to authorities — worked for part of that time for Millersburg-based Christian Aid Ministries, which coordinates missionary activities. amishOrthodox Mennonite and related groups.

This is the second court case against Mast, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in Holmes County court in 2019 after pleading guilty to sexually abusing two minors in Ohio.

According to Ohio’s prisoner database, Mast received early judicial release in October after serving less than six years. As a condition of his release, he was placed on three years of supervised probation and required to complete an intensive supervision program, including sex-offender specific programming.

court records Retired Tuscarawas County Judge Edward Emmett O’Farrell allowed Mast’s release based on his “exemplary record” behind bars and “most importantly, that the defendant has expressed and demonstrated remorse for the crimes he committed, and the emotional and psychological pain and suffering he caused the child victims and their families in this case.”

Mast was arrested on federal charges on November 5 and formally pleaded guilty on Tuesday. He will be convicted in federal court on Thursday cleveland,

“The crimes against children outlined in these charges are despicable,” David M. Toepfer, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said in a statement. “Such appalling and morally corrupt behavior will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We appreciate the work of Homeland Security Investigations and the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office, whose intensive work led to these federal charges being filed today.”

According to court filings, the charges are based on a U.S. law that prohibits citizens from “traveling in foreign commerce and engaging in any unlawful sexual conduct with another person.”

Court documents indicate Mast is represented by a public defender, who did not immediately respond to email and phone messages seeking comment late Wednesday.

In 2019, after his sudden return home from Haiti, the Mast scam came to the fore. In a subsequent interview with Holmes County authorities, he admitted to molesting approximately 30 children in Haiti between 2003 and 2019, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Jason M. Guyton. The details of his confession indicate that many, if not all, of the reported victims were boys.

The federal charges accuse Mast of abusing four different minors in 2004, 2007 and 2011. According to the criminal complaint, Mast met a 13-year-old boy during his missionary work and allegedly molested him in a tent.

The case was one of a number of cases that drew attention to issues of sexual abuse in the Amish and related, Orthodox Mennonites, and Charity churches, to which Mast belonged. Advocates have said victims have been pressured to forgive their abusers and not pursue prosecution outside largely closed religious communities.

Holmes County, where Christian Aid Ministries is located, is home to one of the largest Amish settlements in the country. In 2019, CAM placed two of its managers on leave amid revelations that they knew as early as 2013 that Mast had confessed to sexual activity with young men, yet kept them on the job.

A CAM spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

CAM’s work in Haiti came into the spotlight in 2021 when 17 missionaries and their children were kidnapped by a gang. CAM acknowledged that they were freed later that year, with some of them ransomed by third parties. CAM said most of the remaining people fled.

On Wednesday, alleged gang founder and leader Jolie Germain was sentenced to life in prison in Washington federal court for conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

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