Ex-Milton Hershey School house parent sentenced to state prison, faces deportation for molesting 2 more girls

A former houseparent at The Milton Hershey School was sentenced to state prison Tuesday and likely will be deported to Mexico for molesting two more young female students.

Dauphin County Judge William T. Tully sentenced Fernando Zagaceta to 1 \u00bd- to 3 years behind bars after one of the victims and Zagaceta’s wife spoke about the devastation Zagaceta had caused.

Zagaceta, 45, a U.S. resident for more than two decades, had previously served a 6- to 23-month county prison term for sexually assaulting another one of his charges while she prayed in 2015.

The other two girls who were assaulted during the same time period came forward about two years after Zagaceta was sentenced in that first case, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Gettle said.

“He was in essence a wolf in sheep’s clothing at Milton Hershey,” Gettle said. In the two later cases, Zagaceta was charged with fondling the genitals of an 8-year-old girl and fondling the genitals and breasts of a 10-year-old, she said.

Zagaceta pleaded no contest to charges including indecent assault, corruption of minors and child endangerment in the two latter cases. He had no sentencing agreement.

One of the victims told Tully she can never forget what Zagaceta did to her. His actions plunged her into depression, self-mutilation and thoughts of suicide, she said.

“To this day, I am still not comfortable around men,” the girl said, her voice trembling with emotion. “I wondered if my life was over.”

Zagaceta’s wife Ashley also was visibly distraught as she asked Tully to be lenient on her husband, a father of two.

“This does not change the fact that Fernando is a good person,” she said. She asked that her husband be spared more jail time. She lamented that he will be separated from his family and deported to a country where he no longer has any personal ties.

“Fernando and our entire family have and will continue to face a lifetime of consequences,” she said. “I’ve prayed…that you will show grace and mercy on this day.”

Defense attorney Casey Shore stressed the likelihood of deportation, Zagaceta’s participation in sex offender counseling and his inevitable forced separation from his family.

“That’s a situation he’s put himself in,” Shore conceded. “He hasn’t run from this…He has faced this head-on. He is willing to accept the consequences.”

Zagaceta told Tully, “I take responsibility for what I did.” It was a blatant betrayal of trust, he said.

Gettle pushed for the state prison sentence. “There needs to be punishment in these cases,” she said. “This is the type of crime that each of these children will live with for the rest of their lives.”

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