A former missionary with an Ohio-based ministry has been indicted on federal charges of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with four minors in Haiti over several years. Jeriah Mast, 44, of Millersburg, Ohio, was indicted for alleged actions during multiple visits to Haiti between 2002 and 2019.
Mast worked for part of that time for Christian Aid Ministries, which coordinates missionary activities for Amish, conservative Mennonite and related groups. According to authorities, Mast admitted to abusing about 30 victims in Haiti and more in Ohio.
This is the second court case against Mast. In 2019, he was sentenced to nine years in prison in Holmes County after pleading guilty to sexually abusing two minors in Ohio. He received early judicial release in October after serving just under six years, with conditions including supervised probation and sex-offender programming.
Mast was arrested on the federal charges on 5 November and formally indicted on Tuesday. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday in federal court in Cleveland. The charges are based on a US law prohibiting citizens from travelling abroad to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer said in a statement: 'Crimes against children, like those mentioned in these allegations, are reprehensible. Such appalling and morally corrupt behavior will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'
The case has drawn attention to issues of sexual abuse in Amish and related communities. In 2019, Christian Aid Ministries placed two managers on leave after revelations they knew of Mast's misconduct as early as 2013 but kept him on the job.
