A babysitter was sentenced to more than 700 years in prison for sexually assaulting 16 children in her care in California on Friday, according to a Press release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, was found guilty of charges including sexually assaulting 16 children between the ages of two and 12 in his care and showing another child child pornography with the intent to sexually assault him. He filmed many of his crimes against children, which he committed between January 2014 and May 2019 in Southern California, according to the district attorney’s office.
Zakrzewski, who called himself “the original Sitter Buddy” on his website, was arrested in May 2019 after a Laguna Beach couple reported to police that he had inappropriately touched their eight-year-old son. He was found at a local airport and disembarked from an international flight.
He was initially charged with three felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child 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.
As the investigation continued, more victims were identified through video evidence and tips from the public.
“Zakrzewski was ultimately charged with a total of 34 felonies, including 27 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age, two felony counts of oral copulation of a child under 10 years of age, and one felony count of possession of pornography child,” the district attorney’s office said. “He also faced one felony count of using a minor for sexual acts, two felony counts of distributing pornography to a minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct, and one felony count of attempted lewd or lascivious act. with a minor under 14.”
Zakrzewski was convicted of all 34 felonies and sentenced to “705 years to life plus two years and eight months,” according to the district attorney’s office.
The children’s parents read victim impact statements in court Friday. The mother of a boy who was two years old when Zakrzewski sexually abused him spoke of her anguish at never having been able to meet the boy her son should have been if she had not been assaulted.
Zakrzewski did not apologize during his court statement.
“I pride myself on making your children smile and all the good times we shared were 100 percent genuine,” he said, according to the district attorney’s office.
In a statement, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer called Zakrzewski a “master manipulator” who taught victims to lie and keep secrets from their own parents.
“The sexual exploitation of children aims to destroy the smallest souls and this monster disguised as smiles and laughter engages in the most horrific and calculated manipulation to ensure that he continues to have unlimited access to what these parents value most: their children, ” Spitzer said.
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