A male nanny from California, USA, received a prison sentence exceeding 700 years.
During his Friday, November 17 court appearance, 34-year-old Matthew Zakrzewski said he “prided himself” on making the kids he sexually molested happy.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office reported that Matthew Zakrzewski was found guilty of 34 felony counts, including lewd and lascivious actions with a kid under 14. His horrific exploitation of children includes abusing sixteen young boys who were entrusted to his care and displaying pornography to a seventeenth.
Between January 2014 and May 2019, Zakrzewski spent more than three years committing his heinous deeds. His child victims were between the ages of two and twelve.
“I took great satisfaction in making your kids happy, and the moments of joy we experienced together were entirely sincere,” Zakrzewski declared before Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Menninger.
By promoting himself as “the original Sitter Buddy” on his website, the paedophile was able to find employment. He provided a variety of services, such as mentorships, overnight and vacation childcare, and babysitting.
During victim impact statements, a number of the abused children’s relatives referred to Zakrzewski as a “master manipulator”.
“A death sentence is too good for him… Please show no mercy on this animal,” a grandmother of two of the victims said, according to ABC 7.
Other parents said they were left with guilt for having hired the “monster” to watch their children.
“I will be dealing with guilt for the rest of my life for letting this animal in my life,” one mother said. “I hired a babysitter once in my life. Just once in my life.”
“For a year, he visited our house once a month,” said the mother of Zakrzewski’s victim, a 2-year-old boy. “One of the first things he taught him was to keep secrets.”
The 17 children’s innocence and childhoods were lost in this case, according to the district attorney.
Todd Spitzer, the district attorney for Orange County, stated, “This is a case of shattered innocence and precious childhoods that were robbed from 17 little boys.”
“These children will never know the people they were truly intended to be – because their childhoods were suddenly and inexplicably interrupted not by a wolf at the door, but by a predator masquerading as a godsend.”
He was found guilty of the 34 felony charges in October, where at the time he was facing a maximum jail time of 690 years to life plus eight years.
In her closing remarks during the trial, prosecutor Juliet Oliver revealed Zakrzewski had an “entire book” on paedophilia on his computer, and had videotaped most of the evidence used against him.
He was only caught after one of the children’s parents reported him to the police for inappropriately touching her eight-year-old son and sharing a concern for other children back in early May 2019.
He was arrested on May 17, 2019, at a local airport after deboarding an international flight.
After initially filing five felony charges against Zakrzewski investigators asked the public for help identifying other potential victims through video evidence and tips resulting in the additional charges.