Jeriah Mast convicted of child sexual abuse

MILLERSBURG — Jeriah Mast began 2019 living in Haiti, where he served as a missionary for Berlin-based Christian Aid Ministries, but he will end the year in an Ohio prison.

Mast, 38, left Haiti in May, as allegations began to surface that he had sexually abused multiple boys there, and returned to his home in rural Millersburg. Christian Aid Ministries “promptly discharged” Mast after learning of the allegations, the organization said in a statement over the summer, adding that Mast left Haiti and returned to the U.S. without their authorization or knowledge.

Mast voluntarily came to the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office in late May to speak with investigators, and admitted to sexually assaulting four local boys between 1999 and 2008.

A Holmes County grand jury in early July indicted Mast on seven felony counts of gross sexual imposition and seven misdemeanor counts of sexual imposition. Those charges included allegations that stemmed from a fifth victim who came forward after reading about the case.

Prosecutors eventually dismissed all but two of the felony charges against Mast after further investigation revealed that three of the five victims were at least 13 years old at the time of Mast’s abuse, making those misdemeanor offenses that were beyond their statute of limitations.

Mast pleaded guilty in October to those two felonies. He still denies abusing the man who came forward after learning of the investigation, but pleaded guilty to avoid a trial on that charge.

Holmes County Common Pleas Court Judge Judge Robert D. Rinfret in November sentenced Mast to nine years in prison. During the emotional sentencing hearing, held in a packed courtroom on a cold and rainy Tuesday morning, Mast apologized for his actions, while one of his victims, now 32 years old, spoke about the lasting negative affects of Mast’s abuse.

And while Mast’s local criminal case has come to an end, his legal issues have not. Mast is still the subject of a civil suit in Holmes County, with an unnamed alleged abuse victim seeking damages of at least $100,000.

Haitian authorities also still want Mast and Christian Aid Ministries to answer for Mast’s child abuse there. Mast has admitted to U.S. law enforcement that he molested 30 or 31 boys in Haiti over a span of about 15 years, Rinfret said during his sentencing hearing.

Reporter Jack Rooney can be reached at 330-287-1645 or jrooney@the-daily-record.com. He is on Twitter at twitter.com/?RooneyReports.

CREDIT: JACK ROONEY