mike wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 10:37 am
I wasn't aware that Jeriah was no longer incarcerated, but online records show he is on judicial release. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison in 2019, but apparently the sentence was reduced due to good behavior and completing certain programs. All of that was for state charges not related to the allegations from when he was in Haiti.
The new indictment would be US federal charges for the alleged abuse in Haiti, for which he has not yet had any legal consequences. This indictment should not be a surprise then, I suppose.
Me neither. So how is this handled when the abuse occured in Haiti...the victims have a Haitian attorney or they have an American attorney???
I didn’t see anything about any legal authorities from Haiti being involved. Apparently the US government can prosecute US citizens for crimes they commit abroad?
The answer is yes, the US can charge Americans for crimes they commit abroad like child trafficking or insider trading.
"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless."
Southerner wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 10:04 am
My sister recently met a Haitian at a large store who detailed that he had been molested. She asked him if it was Jeriah and he said, "No". Then described the group as Holdeman based on covering description. Told my sister that I think many "missionaries" wear black coverings to Haiti.
Haiti hasn’t been a mission in quite a long time but does have a national church that on equal footing to Canada / America. Nigeria and Brazil are the same way.
However in Haiti they don’t use the North American covering style for various reasons. As far as I know the only mission that does is Ukraine (or should I say, did) and the Brazil national church does. Russia followed the African / Haiti style.
Southerner wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 10:44 am
Me neither. So how is this handled when the abuse occured in Haiti...the victims have a Haitian attorney or they have an American attorney???
I didn’t see anything about any legal authorities from Haiti being involved. Apparently the US government can prosecute US citizens for crimes they commit abroad?
The answer is yes, the US can charge Americans for crimes they commit abroad like child trafficking or insider trading.
America has even successfully indicted foreigners for crimes committed overseas, but yes, Americans are entirely subject to American laws when overseas.
The age of consent is below 16 in most of the world. However, Americans are subject to federal laws that mandate it to 16 when overseas, as some “sex tourists” have learned the hard way.
I didn’t see anything about any legal authorities from Haiti being involved. Apparently the US government can prosecute US citizens for crimes they commit abroad?
The answer is yes, the US can charge Americans for crimes they commit abroad like child trafficking or insider trading.
America has even successfully indicted foreigners for crimes committed overseas, but yes, Americans are entirely subject to American laws when overseas.
The age of consent is below 16 in most of the world. However, Americans are subject to federal laws that mandate it to 16 when overseas, as some “sex tourists” have learned the hard way.
So, I haven't listened to the "talksonlaw" video yet, but how do federal prosecutors gather evidence when crimes are committed abroad...I'm familiar with how evidence is collected for US trials...e.g. victim testimony, video, etc..
Several evenings ago, I was researching the attempted abduction of several Mennonite children in Dayton, VA several years ago...three of the four kidnappers fled to Scotland from Dulles International right afterwards and they will be extradited to the US per a court ruling this past summer. This ruling comes 7 years after the attempted abduction in 2018. https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/hi ... -fugitives
Last edited by Southerner on Thu Dec 04, 2025 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
Szdfan wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 11:05 am
The answer is yes, the US can charge Americans for crimes they commit abroad like child trafficking or insider trading.
America has even successfully indicted foreigners for crimes committed overseas, but yes, Americans are entirely subject to American laws when overseas.
The age of consent is below 16 in most of the world. However, Americans are subject to federal laws that mandate it to 16 when overseas, as some “sex tourists” have learned the hard way.
So, I haven't listened to the "talksonlaw" video yet, but how do federal prosecutors gather evidence when crimes are committed abroad...I'm familiar with how evidence is collected for US trials...e.g. victim testimony, video, etc..
In one case I can think of, electronic communications were monitored. Sometimes other countries will cooperate too - I imagine lots of places don’t appreciate American sex tourists looking to prey on 15 year olds.
Southerner wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 10:44 am
Me neither. So how is this handled when the abuse occured in Haiti...the victims have a Haitian attorney or they have an American attorney???
I didn’t see anything about any legal authorities from Haiti being involved. Apparently the US government can prosecute US citizens for crimes they commit abroad?
The answer is yes, the US can charge Americans for crimes they commit abroad like child trafficking or insider trading.
Interesting. It goes without saying that one would be better off facing justice in the US federal system than in Haitian court, assuming they have some kind of functional legal system right now. But from the perspective of Haiti and Haitian victims, it probably doesn't seem like justice.
When the full scope came out in spring 2019 (dozens of victims, some as young as 6–7, abuse spanning almost two decades), CAM’s initial public response was widely criticized as evasive and victim-blaming. Mast himself fled to Mexico for a period but eventually returned to the U.S., pleaded guilty in Ohio state court in 2019, and served about 6½ years of a 9-year sentence (he was released from prison in late 2024 or early 2025).
The new federal indictment (December 2, 2025) is separate from the earlier state case. It uses the extraterritorial jurisdiction statute (18 U.S.C. § 2423(c)) that allows prosecution of U.S. citizens who travel abroad and engage in illicit sexual conduct with minors, even if the acts occurred before the 2013 PROTECT Act amendment strengthened the law. Each of the four counts carries a potential 30-year maximum (so up to 120 years if run consecutively, though federal sentencing guidelines and plea possibilities will likely reduce that dramatically).
Who paid for the tickets?
In many documented cases from 2019 testimony and the independent CAM-commissioned report (released 2020 by an organization called PII), Mast’s travel was funded or reimbursed by CAM itself or through donor funds routed through CAM. Flight records cited in the new indictment (30+ trips 2002–2018) match what victims and former staff had already described.
Who approved his return after he was sent home the first time?
According to the 2020 investigative report and multiple victim/witness accounts, senior CAM field directors in Haiti and at least one member of the CAM board in Berlin, Ohio, were informed of Mast’s 2013 confession yet allowed him to return. Some board members later claimed they were kept in the dark, but the report concluded there was a systemic “lack of institutional control” and a culture that prioritized reputation and “forgiveness” over victim safety and legal reporting.
So yes, the new federal case opens the door to very uncomfortable depositions and potential civil liability or even organizational charges if prosecutors can show CAM knowingly facilitated the travel after having reason to know he was a danger. At minimum, expect renewed scrutiny, possible follow-on civil suits from victims, and pressure on remaining CAM leadership and donors.
The conservative Anabaptist world has been grappling with the fallout for six years now; this indictment is essentially the U.S. government saying the earlier state-level punishment and CAM’s internal “repentance process” were nowhere near sufficient accountability.
CAM leadership will receive subpoenas and wll be required to testify under oath and penalty of perjury. Additionally, these charges now open up CAM to legal liabilities in civil courts from Haiti victims who can sue CAM in American courts even if they have previously signed non disclosure documents in Haiti. CAM will need to now answer questions they previously avoided.
