Almost two years after the alleged ringleaders of a child prostitution conspiracy in suburban Atlanta were arrested, the gay Georgia couple could strike a plea deal with prosecutors and avoid trial.
Affluent LGBTQ activists William Dale Zulock and Zachary Jacoby Zulock are accused of raping their adopted special-needs sons—ages 6 and 8 at the time the sexual abuse allegedly started—on a weekly basis, filming the abuse, widely distributing the "homemade" child pornography to nearby pedophiles, and prostituting the children to these men, whom they had met on the gay hook-up app Grindr.
The Zulock "family" on vacation in 2019 | William Zulock
Last week, at Wednesday's status conference, attorneys for the Zulocks announced that they waived their right to a jury trial.
Disclosing to Townhall what was decided following a technological mishap on the court's end, Walton County District Attorney Randy McGinley said that the defendants are "likely" entering a guilty plea after previously pleading not guilty to 17 child sex crimes, some of which carry multiple life sentences. However, they prefer "more time to talk" to the prosecution regarding "a resolution," the DA added.
We'll know definitively at the end of the month at the next court date slated for July 29.
If it's not negotiated, in which the state and the defense don't agree on a sentence, then both parties would argue in court what they believe the sentence should be. After hearing arguments and reviewing evidence, the judge presiding over the criminal proceedings ultimately decides whatever sentencing he deems appropriate within the bounds of statutory limits for each count.
As for the charges against the Zulocks, the sentencing guidelines range by statute:
- Counts 1-3 and 5-7: Aggravated Sodomy; Counts 8-10: Aggravated Child Molestation
- Minimum of 25 years in prison followed by life on probation
- The court can also sentence them to any number of years above the 25-year minimum
- They're not eligible for parole during this time of incarceration
- The court could also sentence them to life in prison
- A life sentence in Georgia, for such offenses, means 30 years in prison before a convict is eligible for parole
- Counts 4 and 11: Incest
- 25 to 50 years in prison since the victims were under the age of 14
- Counts 12-15: Sexual Exploitation of Children
- 5 to 20 years in prison
- Counts 16 and 17: Pandering for Person Under 18
- 10 to 30 years in prison
The sentences could run either consecutively or concurrently. If the former occurs and they're sentenced to the maximum amount allowed under state law, the Zulocks are facing 240 years of imprisonment, on top of nine life sentences, in the event they're convicted on all counts.
If the latter happens and minimum sentencing is afforded, they could spend just 25 years in prison; then, William, 34, and Zachary, 37, would be freed as middle-aged men.
Judge Jeffrey L. Foster, who's overseeing the Zulock case, had mistakenly muted the June video conference, which Townhall was permitted to virtually record.
For "safety" concerns, a new policy is in effect stipulating that the sound system must be muted for cases related to sex offenses so that the other inmates cannot overhear, the county told Townhall after the courtroom's audio feed had abruptly cut out. "We completely forgot that would mean you could not hear either."
"I muted it, but I didn't realize when I was muting, I was muting it for everyone. Sorry about that," the Alcovy Circuit Court judge apologized in court once the sound was restored. "That's what happens when you give me so many buttons. I get confused."
Zachary (middle) and William (far-right) Zulock appearing in person at the joint June 26 status conference where John E. Haldi (between them) hobbled in with a cane in hand | Townhall Media
While in lock-up, Zachary has been beaten up repeatedly, threatened with sexual violence, and drugged by his fellow detainees, according to what he told a family member over text. In vivid detail, Zachary described the anti-"ChoMo" (child molester) treatment he's been receiving at rock bottom of the clink's pecking order. Anyone who harms children, be it child murderers or rapists, belongs to the lowest rung of the hierarchical ladder and is subject to what's colloquially called "jail justice."
He has begged for a plea deal, going so far as contacting the DA directly out of desperation. "I want an ankle monitor, and if required, a low bond," Zachary demanded.
"he needs to get me out," Zachary texted, pleading for his criminal defense lawyer to "work [out] a deal."
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) January 20, 2023
"tell DA that I want an ankle monitor, and if required, a low bond," demanded Zachary, who was told that the judge would "laugh him" out of the courtroom. pic.twitter.com/Rrf4VbeEhI
Earlier this year, Foster was hoping the Zulock case would head to trial sometime in late August after much delay.
At the March 20 hearing, Foster gave William's defense attorney John E. Haldi a deadline to decide whether or not to drop his special demurrer, a motion that challenged the charges by compelling the prosecution to produce definitive dates of when exactly the crimes were committed. In an effort to toss out the 17-count indictment brought by a Georgia grand jury, the attorney argued that the charging instrument alleges an "expansive" timespan of the years-long sexual abuse that's too "broad" and "practically impossible" to prepare a defense, including raising an alibi.
However, the defense's request for specific dates unwittingly sparked a forensic investigation into the surveillance system that the Zulocks had installed inside their home. Sixteen security cameras were positioned all over the premises, recording 24/7 and capturing everything—even the sexual assaults were allegedly "all on video filmed through multiple rooms."
A TV transmitting a live feed from inside the Zulock house | Zachary Zulock
Four terabytes of data were extracted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI)'s crime lab so that the prosecution could match metadata to timeframes. In accordance, the state was inclined to charge the same-sex couple with each act of sexual abuse as investigators found them in the footage. Based on the GBI's findings of what was discovered in that extraction, the prosecution threatened to re-indict the Zulocks on "hundreds" of additional counts.
Assistant DA Lacey Majors had informed Haldi that if he chose to continue with the demurrer as is, the prosecution would proceed with a wider-ranging re-indictment.
"Your Honor, I'm getting these implicit threats: 'Hey, if you look at the evidence, we're gonna charge your client with more. We're gonna try to send him to jail for 100 life sentences instead of 20' [...] In all my years at the bar, I have never been presented with that dilemma [...] I have never had the state say, 'I have hundreds and hundreds of hours of evidence. Good luck finding it.' I have never had that," Haldi said.
Haldi, astounded by the data's volume, added: "I had to look up terabytes on Google. One terabyte is [...] roughly the length of anywhere between 100 to 150 two-hour movies at the movie theater."
Haldi asked that the GBI assist with cross-referencing dates with timestamps to help him efficiently examine the evidence. To which, Haldi was informed that investigators aren't obligated to do so. "But if they dump the equivalent of 600 full-length movies on me and say, 'Figure it out yourself,' you can bet I'm going to object to that," Haldi retorted.
Also, Haldi was instructed that the digital material can only be seen on-site in a secured location. Haldi, who had fallen and broken his hip, took a medical leave of absence last year. In the interim, he was immobile and unable to drive anywhere, including to the Walton County courthouse. Annoyed by the significant amount of time it would take to comb through the exorbitant quantity of evidence, Haldi griped about how he would need months to come into the GBI's office and review the tapes.
"Well, that is the law," Majors replied matter-of-factly. "We can't create and copy child pornography for you."
Foster, fed up with Haldi's complaints, said that prosecutors typically wouldn't hand him "a handwritten map" and attorneys ought to drive down to the GBI's headquarters in Augusta, as he had done in the past when he practiced criminal defense.
The case's slow-walking can be blamed partly on Haldi's prolonged incapacitation. Haldi was unreachable for half of 2023, and the court, nor his client, could get ahold of him. "We are just not sure if he is even representing, Mr. [William] Zulock," Majors stated in court around Christmastime. "I think they want to fire him," William said of his parents, who have doled out $50,000 to finance William's defense.
Haldi's indisposed state left Foster unwilling to rule on anything substantive without William having proper legal representation first.
Zachary (left) and William (right) Zulock posing for a professional photoshoot | Zachary Zulock
The self-described "#partnersincrime," who were jointly indicted as co-defendants, were severed pre-trial, meaning they would have had two separate trials. Under limited immunity grants, the Zulocks would have been forced to testify against one another, as the state intended to call upon Zachary to take the witness stand in William's trial and vice versa. Their testimonial statements in police custody "clearly implicate" the other defendant, the state said.
According to court documents, in initial talks with detectives, Zachary was quick to blame William for "starting" the child sexual abuse. "im here because i let william manipulate me and i didn't have a backbone," Zachary texted the relative. But, during telephone discussions with that same family member, William pointed fingers back at Zachary when questioned about their taped confessions. "There's a lot of stuff that went on that I don't know about," William said, insisting he had "no idea what was going on" when heavily armed cops raided their property.
William Zulock's reaction to DA Randy McGinley's severance motion | Townhall Media
The married men were apprehended in an overnight SWAT operation on July 27, 2022, after a client of theirs had tipped off authorities. During the midnight search-and-rescue mission resulting in the children's return to the foster-care system, William was busted in bed butt-naked, and a cadre of armed officers swarmed Zachary, tackling him to the foyer floor—steps from the "Gayest Place in Town" welcome mat that adorned their entryway.
"Our business is our business. What happens in our home, stays in our home," the gay activist couple allegedly told their sexually abused sons.
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) January 18, 2023
LGBTQ-pride decor littered the Zulock mansion. Placed at the entrance: a rainbow Mickey Mouse and a "Gayest Place in Town" welcome mat. pic.twitter.com/G0svd1Ikks
As they await the case's outcome, William remains detained at Walton County Jail while Zachary is jailed separately out of county in the maximum-security unit at Barrow County Detention Center. Though they're behind bars, they are able to text anyone on the outside through jail-issued electronic tablets and inmate-messaging apps, as tell-all texts shared with Townhall have shown.
According to the 17-count indictment, the adoptive dads—who are LGBTQ activists—allegedly performed oral sex on both boys, forced the children to perform oral sex on them, and anally raped their sons. The one child, who just turned 11, suffered injuries from being brutally raped. pic.twitter.com/UqpCav0i1v
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) January 17, 2023
In detainment, Zachary also contacted an "old co-worker" via a handwritten "love" letter he passed along in an apparent attempt to circumvent the slammer's surveillance of communications beyond its walls. Zachary's not-so-secret note contained a series of instructions that laid out his legal strategy, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by Townhall. "This is great to hear his friends are helping us out," William remarked about his "hubby."
Zachary also contacted friends on the outside by passing a handwritten letter to a fellow inmate in an attempt to circumvent the jail's surveillance. Zachary's confidential note contains a series of instructions that reveal his legal strategy.
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) February 22, 2023
He signed: "Love, Zachary Zulock." pic.twitter.com/n5gEnBwaK7
There are still suspects "out there" circulating videos of the abused boys, "less than a dozen" to whom Zachary, the cameraman, allegedly sent the child pornography, McGinley indicated. Two members of the child prostitution ring have since been captured, charged, and convicted under negotiated pleas. As part of the plea agreements, the convicted pedophiles agreed to testify at trial against the Zulocks.
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