A 34-year-old babysitter from Costa Mesa, Orange County, was found guilty this Tuesday of sexual abuse against 16 children after gaining the trust of their parents before committing the crimes under the pretext of playing with them.
An Orange County Superior Court jury found Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski guilty of 34 felonies after a trial that lasted almost a month in a court in the city of Santa Ana.
Zakrzewski was also found guilty of showing pornography to another child unrelated to the sexual abuse cases.
Keep reading: Former Orange County coach sentenced to 150 years in prison for child sexual assault
The defendant faces a sentence of between 690 years to life in prison.according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Zakrzewski showed no reaction when hearing the verdicts. He kept his gaze straight ahead while a court clerk read each of the charges of which he was accused.
In the courtroom, some parents of the victims were present, who sobbed while listening to the reading of the charges.
Keep reading: Orange County doctor defrauds $150 million from federal COVID relief program
Starting in 2014, and for five years, Zakrzewski gained the trust of more than a dozen families in Southern California to allow him to care for their children..
It was reported that, when the accused offered his services, highlighted having experience working with children diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities.
During their court testimony, the parents mentioned being initially impressed by Zakrzewski’s track record, as well as his relationship with their children.
Deputy Prosecutor Juliet Oliver testified that Zakrzewski groomed his victims during babysitting sessions, He played with them in a way that made the little ones love him and think they were best friends..
Of his 16 victims for whom he was found guilty, the youngest to be sexually abused by Zakrzewski was about 2 or 3 years old at the time the crime was committed.
Keep reading: Hispanic mother who admitted drowning her three children will be tried on murder charges
Zakrzewski was arrested in May 2019 after a boy told his parents that the babysitter had sexually abused him.
In the investigations, Laguna Beach detectives discovered that the suspect had been accused of similar conduct a year earlier in Los Angeles. The boy involved in this case had initially refused to speak to an interviewer after telling his mother about the alleged abuse, but agreed to testify after Zakrzewski was detained in Laguna Beach and in his second interview described Zakrzewski as a person who had abused him.
A search of the defendant’s cell phone, his digital camera and a computer resulted in the discovery of thousands of photographs and videos that he took of the minors he was observing.
Prosecutors described Zakrzewski as a “very specific and strategically obsessive recorder of every act with children.”
When news of Zakrzewski’s arrest spread through the community, More families approached the authorities to report him and accuse him of sexual abuse against their children..
Prior to the start of the trial, Lawyers warned jurors that they would not want to see some of the allegedly graphic evidence, particularly photographs and videos.. Monitors that are normally visible from the gallery were moved away from the public section of the courtroom during the trial.
After the verdict, Mental health counselors were sent to the deliberation room to talk to jurors.
Deputy public defense attorney Jennifer Ryan warned jurors before the trial against making “snap judgments” and asked that they try to gauge the intentions of the defendant’s actions that were captured in his photographs and videos.
Zakrzewski is scheduled to run again in court on November 17 to hear his sentence.
Keep reading:
· 5-year-old Hispanic boy suffers alleged abuse by another student at Los Angeles elementary school
· 15 years in prison for Riverside County mother for the death of her daughter from ingesting fentanyl
· California school district pays 27 million to family for student’s death caused by bullies