A male nanny was sentenced Friday to over 700 years in prison for sexually assaulting 16 boys under his care in California, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, was found guilty of charges including sexually assaulting 16 boys under his care ranging in age from 2 to 12 years old, and showing an additional boy images of child sexual abuse with the intent to sexually assault him. He filmed many of his crimes on the 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'd touched their 8-year-old son inappropriately. He was found at a local airport and was deplaned from an international flight.
He was initially charged with three felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor 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 unfolded, more victims were identified by way of video evidence and tips from the public.
"Zakrzewski was ultimately charged with a total of 34 felony counts, including 27 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14, two felony counts of oral copulation of a child under the age of 10, and one felony count of possession of child pornography," the district attorney's office said. "He also faced one felony count of using a minor for sex acts, two felony counts of distributing pornography to a minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct, and one felony count of an attempted lewd or lascivious act with a minor under the age of 14."
Zakrzewski was convicted of all 34 felonies and sentenced to "705 years to life plus two years and eight months," per the district attorney's office.
Parents of the children read victim impact statements in court Friday. The mother of a boy who was 2 years old when Zakrzewski molested him spoke of her heartbreak over never being able to meet the child her son should have been had he not been assaulted.
Zakrzewski didn't apologize while delivering a court statement.
"I prided myself on bringing smiles to your children and all the good times we shared were 100 % 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 the victims to lie and keep secrets from their own parents.
"The sexual exploitation of children is meant to destroy the smallest of souls and this monster disguised by smiles and giggles engaged in the most horrific and calculated manipulation to ensure he would continue to have unfettered access to what these parents cherish the most — their children," Spitzer said.
