A male nanny was sentenced to over 700 years in prison for sexually assaulting 16 boys under his care in California on Friday, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, was found guilty of dozens of charges, including sexually assaulting boys ranging in age from two to 12 years old under his care and showing a 17th victim child pornography with the intent to sexually assault him. He filmed many of his crimes against the children, which he committed between January 2014 and May 2019 in Southern California, according to the district attorney's office.
Initially, he was charged with three felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14, one felony count of oral copulation of a child under 10, and one felony count of possession of child pornography, according to the district attorney's office.
Zakrzewski was arrested in May 2019 by the Laguna Beach Police Department after a couple reported to law enforcement that he'd touched their 8-year-old son inappropriately. He was found at a local airport and was deplaned from an international flight.
As the investigation unfolded, more victims were identified through video evidence and tips from the public.
Zakrzewski called himself "the original Sitter Buddy" on his website, in which he also characterized himself as a "manny" who provided a variety of babysitting services, including mentorships, big brother relationships, and offering overnight and vacation babysitting.
He was ultimately charged and found guilty of 34 felonies, including lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14, oral copulation of a child under the age of 10, and possession of child pornography. The district attorney’s office said he was sentenced to 705 years to life plus two years and eight months.
Through victim impact statements read in court, the parents of the boys expressed their outrage at the deception Zakrzewski engaged in to gain access to their children.
The mother of a boy who was two years old when he was molested by Zakrzewski described her heartbreak over never being able to meet who her little boy should have been if he hadn’t been subjected to the trauma of being sexually assaulted, the district attorney’s office said.
But Zakrzewski never apologized. Instead, he said, “I prided myself on bringing smiles to your children, and all the good times we shared were 100 percent genuine,” as several parents covered their ears and wept.
“The sexual exploitation of children is meant to destroy the smallest of souls, and this monster disguised by smiles and giggles engaged in the most horrific and calculated manipulation to ensure he would continue to have unfettered access to what these parents cherish the most—their children,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “These innocent little boys must bear a lifetime of trauma, and their parents will bear a lifetime of pain knowing that they put their precious children in the arms of an animal because they believed who he said he was.”
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