Former Ohio missionary pleads guilty to sexually abusing boys in Haiti

A former missionary from Ohio pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of sexually abusing two boys during trips to Haiti, in a plea deal that could send him to prison for at least 25 years, according to the US Department of Justice. Jeriah Mast, 45, of Millersburg, entered his plea before Judge Donald C. Nugent in federal court in Cleveland.

Mast had told police in 2019 that he had molested more than 30 boys in Haiti and four children in Ohio, though the federal charges to which he pleaded guilty Tuesday were limited to the abuse of two boys in Haiti. Under the plea agreement, both Mast and prosecutors agreed that an “appropriate” sentence would fall between 25 and 33 years, though the final decision rests with the judge. Sentencing has been set for December 15.

Mast made mission trips to Haiti between 2002 and 2019, years during which he worked for the Millersburg-based Christian Aid Ministries.

For families and communities in Haiti who welcomed missionaries into schools, orphanages, and churches, cases like this one reopen painful questions about accountability and the vetting of foreign workers who gain access to vulnerable children.

The Justice Department has not detailed how the case first came to the attention of investigators, and it remains unclear whether additional charges could follow related to the other abuse Mast reportedly described to police in 2019.