Gay couple sentenced for sexual abuse of adopted sons

Two Georgia men were each sentenced to 100 years in prison for abusing two boys that they adopted, the Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney Randy McGinley said on Monday. William and Zachary Zulock will not be eligible for parole during those 100 years. And if they ever leave prison, they will spend the rest of their lives on parole, the district attorney said.

What happened? Authorities began investigating the two men after receiving a tip about child sexual abuse material, according to McGinley’s news release. Police arrested a man who possessed the material. He pleaded guilty to a charge for possessing the material. The individual accused the Zulocks of sending him the material, and promised to cooperate with prosecutors.

Authorities determined that the Zulocks had been abusing two young boys who they adopted, and were sending footage of the abuse to other individuals, according to McGinley. Investigators combed through more than 7 terabytes of data containing footage of the abuse and text messages about it. They pleaded guilty to most of the resulting charges. Additionally, a judge convicted William Zulock of charge of incest after he disputed the legal merits of the charge.

Dig deeper: Listen to Anna Johansen Brown and Mary Jackson’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about an investigator in Northern California who tracks down and rescues girls caught up in the sex trade.