Superior Court denies bond for teen accused in Peters Township ‘sextortion’ case
A state appellate court has upheld a lower court’s decision denying bond to a Peters Township teen accused in the “sextortion and catfishing” scheme of fellow high school students, saying there are no safeguards available to keep him from being a danger to the community.
The state Superior Court ruled Tuesday that 19-year-old Zachariah Abraham Meyers should remain at the Washington County jail while he awaits trial on numerous felony counts, including charges of trafficking, unlawful contact with a minor and child sexual exploitation.
Peters Township police arrested Meyers on Feb. 20 when District Judge Phillippe Melograne denied him bond during his arraignment, and then again during his preliminary hearing a week later when he waived his case to court. During hearings in March and June, attorneys for Meyers asked Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Traci McDonald to grant their client bond, but she determined there were no conditions available to ensure that he could not access the internet or flee.
“The trial court concluded that the defense had proposed a return home with counseling and internet prohibitions, but had offered no workable means of execution,” the state Superior Court wrote in its order. “In the trial court’s view, no set of conditions could reasonably assure the safety of any person and the community.”
The appellate court stated that McDonald “determined that Meyers presents a danger not only to the twenty-one victims, but also to numerous other members of the community” that cannot be alleviated by the bail conditions.
Peters Township police accused Meyers of blackmailing nearly two-dozen male students, including some he allegedly coerced into sexual encounters with men. Meyers, who was the Peters Township High School senior class president before his arrest, is accused of creating false profiles on social media platforms TikTok and Snapchat to “catfish” victims as he pretended to be someone else.
Police said Meyers convinced the victims to send sexually explicit images and videos to him by pretending to be an attractive young female, and he allegedly pressured one of them to send more materials by threatening to expose the victim. He also is accused of pressuring one of the teens to send videos while involved in sexual encounters with two different adult men.
The correspondence happened between the summers of 2024 and 2025 as he communicated with at least 21 alleged victims ranging in age from 14 to 17 during that time, according to Peters Township police, who began investigating in early December.
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh applauded the decisions by McDonald and the state Superior Court to deny Meyers bond. Walsh previously said Meyers used “sophisticated” technology and apps to conceal his identity during the alleged sextortion and catfishing scheme, which would make it impossible to ensure he did not access the internet again.
“This Office requested denial of bail because the charges are not only significant, but the nature, method and planning of the offenses pose a substantial risk to public safety,” Walsh said in a written statement. “This Office will protect the public, and I am pleased that the Trial Court and Superior Court agreed.”
In addition to potentially accessing the internet without monitoring, the state Superior Court also agreed with McDonald that Meyers could be a flight risk due to his family’s substantial wealth and available vehicles, while also living in the same township as the alleged victims in the case.
“In particular, the trial court explained that, if permitted to return home on bail, Meyers would be in proximity to victims and children in the community, and he would have access to significant financial resources – including a truck, prepaid credit card, $3,000 in cash, and a family with substantial wealth,” the state Superior Court wrote in its decision. “As the record amply supports the trial court’s determination that Meyers’ release on bail would present significant community safety concerns as well as a flight risk, we decline to disturb it.”
Attorneys representing Meyer did not respond to a phone call seeking comment Thursday.
Meyers is scheduled back in court at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 23 to appear before McDonald for a pre-trial conference. He is facing 67 felony charges that include multiple counts each of unlawful contact with a minor, trafficking minors, corruption of minors and multiple counts of images depicting child sex acts, child sex abuse material, sexual exploitation of minors, sexual communication with a minor, sexual extortion, disseminating photos of children, criminal use of a communications facility and intercepting communications.