Trial delayed in Jeriah Mast case

MILLERSBURG — The jury trial in the case of former aid worker Jeriah Mast, who is accused of the sexual abuse of boys in Holmes County and Haiti, has been delayed.

Holmes County Common Pleas Judge Robert D. Rinfret granted a continuance in Mast’s case on Thursday during a pre-trial hearing, pushing the start of the trial back to November.

The alleged victims wish to meet with Mast’s defense attorney, John Johnson Jr. of Orrville, according to Holmes County Prosecutor Sean Warner. The defense filed the continuance in order to accommodate this request, Warner said. The victims have retained the council of Thomas D. White from the White Law Firm in Millersburg, Warner said, and White will be arranging the meeting in his office.

Warner said to his understanding, federal officials are not close to filing additional charges against Mast in the Haiti case.

Mast is a former aid worker for Christian Aid Ministries in Berlin, and is accused of sexually abusing five boys in Holmes County and more abroad in Haiti. He was charged with seven counts of gross sexual imposition and seven counts of sexual imposition in July. The abuse allegations range from September 1999 to September 2008, when Mast was between 18 and 27 years old, according to the indictment.

He was released from the Holmes County Jail on bond July 12. Mast will next appear in court on Sept. 30 for another pre-trial hearing. His jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 5.

Kristin Hohman can be reached at 330-674-5676 or at khohman@the-daily-record.com. Follow her on Twitter @Kay_Elizabeth07.

CREDIT: KRISTIN HOHMAN