Peters Township High School senior charged with running criminal network to abuse, exploit minors

PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Peters Township High School senior was just arrested and charged with operating a criminal network involving “catfishing” and “sextortion.”

18-year-old Zachariah Meyers, who is reportedly president of the senior class and a Peters Township athlete, is accused of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of nearly two dozen underage victims.

Channel 11’s Cara Sapida was the only reporter in the courtroom Friday as Meyers faced a judge.

Sapida reports the teenager will be held without bail, as the judge called Meyers a “danger to the community.”

Channel 11 sent questions to Peters Township School District leaders and received the same statement they sent to parents Friday afternoon, saying in part, “there is no immediate risk to schools.”

In court, Meyers’ mother said he has never been in trouble with the law. She said he is class president, a member of the honor society and the volleyball team, an Eagle Scout, and he wants to be a chef.

Online court records show Meyers is facing more than 300 felony charges. including sex trafficking and possessing child pornography.

According to the criminal complaint, Peters Township police first became aware of the reported criminal network on Dec. 5.

Officers interviewed 30 underage boys and identified at least 21 victims. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 17.

Police say the victims all reported being victimized over social media platforms like Snapchat and TikTok.

Meyers used several different accounts that used images of other people, including an adult film performer from the Netherlands who is not believed to be involved in the network, police say.

The victims reportedly believed they were communicating with an attractive young woman.

Police say Meyers asked for and exchanged nude photos with the teens. He then allegedly used threats of sharing those photos with friends and family to force some to record themselves.

At least 14 victims sent pornographic material of themselves, and at least one sent videos of a private area in the high school, the complaint says. One victim claimed he was coerced into having sex on two occasions with unknown adult men and recording it.

One victim sent numerous nude photographs to Meyers, police say. When he stopped, Meyers reportedly told him, “I need smth (sic) to keep my silence.”

That’s when police say Meyers coerced him into having sex with two adult men and videotaping the encounters.

Also, a victim secretly videotaped the Peters Township High School wrestling locker room at Meyers’ direction six different times. The videos reportedly captured about ten different underage boys in various states of undress, as well as their conversations.

Another victim told police Myers demanded $500, and that Myers sent an explicit photo to that victim’s sister.

Peters Township police say they were granted numerous search warrants and court orders for social media content, which ultimately led them to Meyers.

Meyers was taken into custody on Friday at his Windermere Court home. Evidence on Meyers’ phone connected him with the criminal activity, the complaint says.

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