A former missionary working for an Ohio-based ministry has been indicted on federal charges of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with four different minors in Haiti over several years.
Jeriah Mast, 44, of Millersburg, Ohio, was charged with alleged acts committed during his multiple visits to Haiti between 2002 and 2019. Mast — who according to authorities admitted to abusing about 30 victims in Haiti and more in Ohio — worked part of that time for Millersburg-based Christian Aid Ministries, which coordinates missionary activities for Amish, conservative Mennonites and related groups.
This is the second lawsuit against Mast, who was… convicted In Holmes County Circuit Court in 2019, he was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting minors in Ohio.
Mast was granted early judicial release in October after serving just under six years, according to the Ohio Prisoner Database. As a condition of his release, he was placed on probation for three years and required to complete an intensive supervision program, including programming for sex offenders.
Court records state that retired Judge Edward Emmett O’Farrell of Tuscarawas County agreed to release Mast based on “an exemplary record” behind bars and, “most importantly, the defendant’s stated and demonstrated remorse for the crimes he committed, and the emotional and psychological pain and suffering he inflicted on the child victims and their families in this case.”
Mast was arrested on federal charges on November 5 and was formally charged on Tuesday. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Cleveland on Thursday.
“Crimes against children, like those described in these allegations, are reprehensible,” U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio said in a statement. “Such horrific and morally corrupt conduct will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We applaud the work of Homeland Security Investigations and the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office, whose comprehensive work led to today’s federal charges.”
The charges are based on a US law that prohibits citizens from “traveling in foreign commerce and engaging in any illicit sexual conduct with another person,” according to court filings.
The court docket indicates that Mast is represented by a public defender, who did not immediately respond to emails and phone messages seeking comment late Wednesday.
Mast’s scandal came to light in 2019 after he suddenly returned home from Haiti. In a subsequent interview with Holmes County authorities, he admitted to molesting about 30 children in Haiti between approximately 2003 and 2019, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court by Special Agent Jason M. Guyton of Homeland Security Investigations. 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. One of them was a 13-year-old boy whom Mast met during his missionary work and who was allegedly molested in a tent, according to the criminal complaint.
The case was among those that drew attention to it Sexual assault cases In the Amish and related simply-dressed church communities such as the Conservative Mennonites and the Charitable Churches to which Mast belonged. The defenders said the victims were as well He was pressured to forgive abusers and not seek prosecution outside the disciplines of largely closed religious sects.
Holmes County, where Christian Aid Ministries is headquartered, is the center of one of the largest Amish settlements in the country. In 2019, CAM placed two of its managers on leave amid revelations they learned early in 2013 that Mast had admitted to engaging in sexual activity with young men, but kept him on the job.
A CAM spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
CAM’s work in Haiti was highlighted in 2021 when 17 missionaries and their children were kidnapped. Kidnapped by a gang. They were released later that year, and some were ransomed by a third party, CAM admitted. Most of the rest fled, CAM said.
Julie Germaine, the alleged founder and leader of the gang, was arrested on Wednesday. He was sentenced In federal court in Washington, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for organizing the kidnapping.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP cooperation With The Conversation US, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., the AP is solely responsible for this content.