MILLERSBURG, Ohio. A Holmes County missionary pleaded guilty this week to sexually exploiting children during years of trips to Haiti, a case that has left some local Christians quoting Matthew 18:6, the warning that anyone who causes a little one to stumble would be better off with a millstone around the neck.
Jeriah Mast, 45, of Millersburg, entered the plea Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, to two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors in Haiti. U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent is set to sentence him Dec. 15.
Prosecutors said Mast traveled from the United States to Haiti many times between 2002 and 2019, including with Christian Aid Ministries, the Millersburg-area mission that draws support from Amish, conservative Mennonite, and related churches. Flight records showed more than 30 U.S.-to-Haiti trips between November 2002 and August 2018.
What started the investigation
Holmes County deputies first took the case in 2019, after Mast confessed to church leaders at Shining Light Christian Fellowship and was taken to the sheriff’s office. He later pleaded guilty in Holmes County Common Pleas Court to sexually abusing two minors in Ohio and was sentenced to nine years. He received early judicial release in October 2025 after serving just under six years.
Homeland Security Investigations in Cleveland then built the federal Haiti case with help from the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office. A grand jury indicted Mast on Dec. 2, 2025, on four counts, each tied to a different minor in Haiti. He was arrested in November 2025, shortly after leaving state prison.
What he was charged with
Mast was indicted on four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors abroad. On Tuesday he pleaded guilty to two of those counts. News organizations that reviewed the plea papers reported that prosecutors will ask the court to dismiss the other two.
U.S. law allows American citizens to be prosecuted for illicit sexual conduct with minors outside the country. Missionary work is not a defense.
“Jeriah Mast preyed on vulnerable children while working in Haiti as a missionary,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer said Mast “violated the innocence of children and violated the trust of those who supported his supposed missionary work.”
The outcome
Mast is convicted by his own plea on two federal counts. Sentencing is Dec. 15, 2026. The Justice Department has not published a recommended term. Separate reports on the plea agreement have said Mast and prosecutors agreed that a sentence between 25 and 33 years would be appropriate. The judge has the final word.
The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio as part of Project Safe Childhood.
If you know of a similar crime
If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
Report suspected child sexual exploitation, including abuse overseas or online, to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). The DHS Know2Protect tip line is 1-833-591-KNOW (5669). Tips also can go to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI, or to local police or the county sheriff.
Do not confront a suspect or circulate illegal images. File the tip and let investigators take it from there.
