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As the horror story unfolds of how adoptive fathers Zachary and William Zulock, who were prominent figures in Georgia's gay activism scene, allegedly raped, filmed, and prostituted their two sons out to child predators that were part of a suburban LGBTQ pedophile ring, more information about the one co-defendant's criminal history is coming to light in the lead up to the Zulock trial.
Newly filed court documents provide further insight into Zachary's dark past and the origins of the Atlanta-area pedophile ring.
2011 Child Rape Case
Tuesday's update on the child-prostitution-and-pornography case covered Walton County District Attorney Randy McGinley's motion for the enforcement of a gag order after Townhall published private recordings of the married couple's jailhouse phone calls and screenshots of their texts on inmate-messaging platforms. Meanwhile, the Zulock men continue to blab through jail texts with a relative, who is actively sending the material to Townhall, despite the prosecution's gag-order proposal and Judge Jeffrey Foster's warning at a pair of Feb. 1 motion hearings to be more judicious in sharing confidential information with third parties.
McGinley's gag-order request notes that Townhall's four-part series "eludes [sic]" to "potential evidence under Rules 413 or 414."
"Most of the things you don't want in the press are things that Mr. Haldi would happily not want in the press," Foster replied in court, adding "allegations about potential 413 or 414 issues," in reference to Georgia's code on introducing past sex crimes.
Foster bluntly stated at February's court proceedings, "Let's just cut to the chase: The issues in terms of media or not issues related to the attorneys, their agents, investigative staff, press conferences, or any intentional actions on the part of parties..."
Turning to address the Zulock criminal defense attorney John E. Haldi, the judge presiding over the high-profile Zulock case said: "Again, I don't want to speak for you, Mr. Haldi, but I doubt there's anything listed in there that the state says, 'We really don't—everybody doesn't need to know about credibility or character or prior allegations.' [...] I mean, everybody would love to have that to some extent, considering the present media coverage. Maybe, it's somewhat ringing a bell, and I'm trying to unring a bell."
In court, McGinley served Zachary a notice of intent to introduce O.C.G.A. § 24-4-413 and O.C.G.A. § 24-4-414, which state, respectively, that any evidence of the defendant's previous sexual assault and child molestation offenses shall be admissible.
The state intends to introduce evidence of a 2011 child rape case naming Zachary
Under Rule 413 and Rule 414, the evidence is relevant to prove Zachary's "intent" and "lustful disposition," the state argues.
As Townhall reported in Part 3 of the Zulock exposé, Zachary was previously accused of being a child rapist several years prior to the Zulock couple's local 2018 adoption of the abused brothers. But, according to McGinley, the 2011 child rape case was "closed without a whole lot of investigation into it" and charges were never pursued against Zachary, who went on to adopt two little boys.
Walton County Sheriff's Office told me there were different "investigatory standards" back then when the 2011 child rape case was quickly shut down and the officers who mishandled the investigation have since retired. Detectives are now seeking leads that may still yield charges. pic.twitter.com/tFgl31fbN3
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) January 19, 2023
In the additional notice McGinley's office filed, a brief summary of the incident alleges that between June and August 2011, Zachary met a 14-year-old boy on Facebook, initiated contact, and lured the minor to a residence in Walton County where he raped the child. The alleged child rape became known to authorities during an investigation of child molestation involving another suspect in Fayette County, about an hour-and-a-half drive from Zachary's home jurisdiction. After denying it at first, Zachary later admitted to knowing and communicating with both the Fayette County suspect and the underage victim, the court document says.
(Townhall has redacted the then-underage victim's name to protect his identity.)
A brief summary of the 2011 case accusing Zachary of previously raping a child
Although the case was "handled in a manner that is inconsistent with today's current investigatory standards," it has since been reopened by the Walton County Sheriff's Office, a lieutenant in the criminal investigations division told Townhall via email statement. Active sheriff's office detectives are now "seeking any leads that may still yield charges," the police lieutenant wrote.
"Whenever he has an attorney, we can provide all of the discovery of the case on, probably, an external hard drive or a large flash drive, because it was just a lot of discovery," McGinley said. The copy McGinley served Zachary in court includes the discovery "so far" of these prior child sex crimes. Zachary, donning a faded orange-and-white inmate uniform and handcuffed in transport restraints that were shackled to leg irons, held the thick stack of paperwork for the remainder of his 15-minute court appearance.
A recorded interview of the victim conducted by Det. Cavoretto, the detective overseeing the current Zulock investigation; the original forensic interview and law enforcement's questioning of Zachary; and an investigative summary are among the documented items that the state has in support of the allegations. More evidence could still be uncovered and introduced at trial.
DA McGinley handing Zachary a copy of the Rules 413/414 notice, including discovery
"the DA is trying to accuse me of something else..." Zachary objected, taking to the JailATM app on Feb. 3 to assert to his family member that he never lived in the house where the anal rape of the 14-year-old child is alleged to have taken place, nor had a key to the property, "never spent the night," never "brought anyone" there, and never house sat for the property owner ever.
For the second time since the judge's advisory, Zachary again asked what the gag order is "about on william?"
Zachary denied the chief prosecutor's claims about the 2011 child rape case
The next day, Zachary denied meeting the 14-year-old rape victim. "no i never met him," Zachary asserted, maintaining over a string of messages with his relative that he has "zero idea[s] why or how anyone" acquired the address of the house in question.
Zachary did admit to dating the child-molestation suspect in Fayette County, a one-time date circa 2008 or 2009. "the guy that this [boy] accused['s] name is Nathan...Nathan is the guy i went on one date with back around 2008-2009, one date..." Zachary wrote.
"i did not do anything wrong in 2011...i answered their questions honestly...and thats the truth," Zachary protested in a Feb. 4 text.
Zachary's Feb. 4 text admitting to dating the child-molestation suspect in Fayette County
A peek at Zachary's sordid lifestyle showed he was no stranger to soliciting gay men for hookups and threesomes.
When questioned about rumors of the same-sex couple's open marriage, Zachary refuted the accusations: "i never brought any men to our house...the cameras will prove that." At least 16 surveillance cameras were installed in the interior and on the exterior of the Zulock mansion, capturing a live feed of a bedroom with an aerial angle of a queen-size mattress, a walk-in closet, and two hallways, among other rooms. The videos were watched via a 4x4 matrix on a TV screen, a 2020 photograph of the room-by-room security set-up William had sent Zachary on Facebook Messenger, which the family member was granted access to, shows.
Room-by-room surveillance footage of the Zulock mansion was viewed on a Samsung TV that displayed a 4x4 matrix of the live videos | Zachary Zulock (Facebook Messenger)
"william had a friend of [h]is supposedly come and hang out mondays, since he didn't work mondays, but i was under the impression that it was just as friends," Zachary countered in a double-text that afternoon. Although, "nothing more," he stated.
Wednesday's report revealed new developments in our months-long Zulock investigation, including Zachary's pursuit of a plea deal and a lovers' quarrel about to boil over in what appears to be an allegiance unraveling between the two marital partners.
Zachary continues to blame William as the brains of the operation whose computer "must have" contained the child pornography of their boys. "im here because i let william manipulate me and i didn't have a backbone, and i am loosing [sic] everything and everyone i love and care about..." Zachary texted on Feb. 5. William, likewise, deflects and points the finger back at Zachary.
Victim-Turned-Perpetrator of Child Sexual Abuse?
Without prompting, Zachary pivoted to claim he was a victim of serial child sexual abuse over the course of his K-12 education.
Zachary alleged he was sexually assaulted in kindergarten by another kindergartener throughout the school year, "which is why i acted out and went to the principal office and got paddled, then the school would call mom, and dad would spank me when he got home...but i never told anyone." He also claimed he was sexually assaulted from eighth- through tenth-grade by four "friends."
Zachary alleged he was sexually assaulted repeatedly while attending K-12 schooling
The sexual assault in elementary school, Zachary asserted, "happened more days than less during rest time...i didn't know what was happening until years later...like i said, i acted out because i didn't understand what was happening, so i got in trouble and nobody knew why." As for the middle- and high-school sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated by a crew of his male classmates, Zachary stated, "i didn't know who to turn to...but i wanted friends and they happened to be the ones taking advantage of me."
"i was afraid," Zachary pled in the Feb. 5 message divulging the purported details from his "troubled" childhood.
Zachary disclosed more details about his alleged child sexual abuse
The family member also grilled Zachary on the physical and psychological trauma the Zulock boys were allegedly subjected to.
William was once witnessed slapping their younger 9-year-old son "hard in the face," which Zachary claimed over text he didn't "ever remember" happening. "didn't punish boys physical [sic] because the state of [Georgia] said they did not allow physical punishment during the adoption process," Zachary texted. After school, the boys were forced to stand in a corner for "eight hours straight" over consecutive days, according to another family member's knowledge. Zachary confirmed that when the children "got in trouble," the two dads made their elementary-aged sons "sit or stand in time out, either a bench or stand at the wall/corner."
Zachary's Feb. 4 text describing the children's punishment "when they got in trouble"
During the height of the government-mandated lockdowns, the boys were stuck at home, remote learning through virtual lessons for almost an entire year from March 2020 to January 2021, when the child sexual abuse is alleged to have escalated. "we don't have a choice unfortunately," Zachary wrote in a Facebook post sadly announcing the two children's return to physical classes.
Flash forward to the August custody hearing, Zachary said he was told they had "no choice" and must sign the boys over to the state. "i about died," Zachary recounted, "and having william stare at me during the [Aug. 1 parental rights] court appearance."
Stay tuned for Townhall's coverage as we continue to closely follow the ongoing Zulock case.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of Townhall's initial multi-part investigation.