Ex-missionary from Ohio charged with sexually abusing 4 children in Haiti
A former missionary with an Ohio-based ministry has been federally indicted for having illicit sexual relations with four different minors in Haiti over several years.
Jeriah Mast, 44, of Millersburg, Ohio, was indicted for alleged actions during his multiple visits to Haiti between 2002 and 2019. Mast — who authorities say admitted to abusing approximately 30 victims in Haiti and more in Ohio — worked for part of that time for Millersburg-based Christian Aid Ministries, which coordinates mission activities for the Amish, conservative Mennonites and related groups.
This is the second trial against Mast, who was sentenced in Holmes County Court in 2019 to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing two minors in Ohio.
Mast received early judicial release in October after serving just under six years, according to the Ohio inmate database. As a condition of his release, he was placed on supervised probation for three years and required to complete an intensive supervision program, including a specific sex offender program.
Court records indicate that retired Tuscarawas County Presiding Judge Edward Emmett O’Farrell granted Mast’s release based on an “exemplary record” behind bars and “more 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 formally charged on Tuesday. He is expected to be arraigned Thursday in federal court in Cleveland.
“Crimes against children, like those in these allegations, are reprehensible,” U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer of 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 applaud the work of Homeland Security Investigations and the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office, whose extensive work led to the filing of these federal charges today.”
The charges are based on a U.S. 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 says Mast is represented by a public defender, who did not immediately respond to emails and phone messages seeking comment Wednesday evening.
The Mast scandal became public in 2019 after his abrupt return from Haiti. In a subsequent interview with Holmes County authorities, he admitted to molesting approximately 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 admission indicate that most, 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 Mast met through his missionary work who was allegedly molested in a tent, according to the criminal complaint.
The case was among those that drew attention to problems of sexual abuse among the Amish and related undercover religious communities, such as the conservative Mennonites and charitable churches to which Mast belonged. Advocates said victims were pressured to forgive abusers and not seek prosecution outside the disciplines of largely closed religious communities.
Holmes County, where Christian Aid Ministries is based, is the center of one of the largest Amish settlements in the country. In 2019, CAM placed two of its managers on leave following revelations that they knew as early as 2013 that Mast had admitted to sexual activity with young men, but nonetheless kept him on the job.
A CAM spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
CAM’s work in Haiti was highlighted in 2021 when 17 missionaries and their children were kidnapped by a gang. They were released later that year, some were bought by a third party, CAM admitted. CAM said most of the others escaped.
On Wednesday, Joly Germine, the gang’s alleged founder and leader, was sentenced by a Washington federal court to life in prison for orchestrating the kidnapping.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
