Plea deal sets 25-to-33-year sentence range
Jeriah Mast, 45, of Millersburg, Ohio, entered the plea before Judge Donald C. Nugent in federal court in Cleveland on Tuesday. Mast, who told police in 2019 he had molested more than 30 boys in Haiti and four children in Ohio, reached an agreement with prosecutors that could send him to prison for at least 25 years.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Mast and prosecutors agreed that an “appropriate” sentence would be between 25 and 33 years, according to the Associated Press. The judge retains final authority over the sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 15.
Mast traveled to Haiti for mission work between 2002 and 2019. That included several years of work for Christian Aid Ministries, a Millersburg-based organization that coordinates missionary activities supported by Amish, conservative Mennonite and related church groups. Mast belonged to a church in a related Anabaptist movement.
Mast pleaded guilty to federal charges of sexually abusing two boys in Haiti.