Get notified by email when this case is updated.
Written by: E. George
Published December 27, 2024 @ 1:05 PM ET
Warning: The following story contains information regarding alleged sexual violence against children.
WALTON COUNTY, Ga. – After pleading guilty to nearly all charges, a Walton County couple was sentenced to 100 years in prison without the possibility of parole for sexually abusing their two young adopted sons and producing child pornography. William and Zachary Zulock were convicted of a myriad of charges, including sodomy, molestation, and pandering.
William Zulock’s charges included two counts of sexual exploitation of children, three counts of aggravated child molestation, six counts of aggravated sodomy, and additional sexual crimes. Zachary Zulock was convicted of two counts each of aggravated sodomy, sodomy, and pandering for a minor, three counts each of aggravated child molestation and sexual exploitation of children, and other sex-related offenses.
Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney Randy McGinley stated, “These two defendants truly created a house of horrors and put their extremely dark desires above everything and everyone else. However, the depth of the defendants’ depravity, which is as deep as it gets, is not greater than the resolve of those that fought for justice and the strength of the victims in this case.
The resolve I have seen from these two young victims over the last two years is truly inspiring.”
District Attorney McGinley added, “It cannot be stressed enough how important it is for our society to have individuals willing to adopt children in need. But anyone who does so and then abuses those children deserves extremely harsh consequences and decades in prison.
The sentence imposed not only appropriately punishes these defendants for their repeated selfish actions but also sends the message to the public that such actions will never be taken lightly.”
According to reports, the sheriff’s office initiated an investigation into uploaded homemade sexual abuse material involving children in July 2022 after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit alerted them. The GBI had received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding sexual abuse content uploaded to a Google account with an IP address listed in Walton County.
A search warrant executed at the residence resulted in the detainment and arrest of Hunter Lawless, who later pleaded guilty to child sexual exploitation and received a sentence of 20 years, with the first 12 in confinement. Lawless confessed and disclosed his source for the content: Zachary Zulock.
Law enforcement conducted a search at the Zulock residence, where the two men confessed to forcing sexual acts upon the children they had adopted a few years prior. Police analyzed two weeks’ worth of security footage from inside the Zulock’s home and observed multiple sexual assaults occurring in different areas of the residence.
The district attorney’s office said that the couple’s cellular phones contained graphic content, along with messages pertaining to the abuse. The data collected from the phones revealed messages mentioning the abuse to a man named Luis Vizcarro-Sanchez, who later pleaded guilty to pandering for a minor under the age of 18.
Vizcarro-Sanchez also pleaded guilty to absconding from his employer, a Loganville Kroger, with multiple computers. He received a sentence of 16 years, with the initial 15 in confinement.
William Zulock pleaded guilty to all charges in August, and Zachary Zulock pleaded guilty to all charges except one; however, a bench trial found him guilty on all counts.
Get notified by email when this case is updated.