Mia Cathell |  June 26, 2024 – Townhall.com

WARNING: This article contains graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse. Reader discretion is advised.

Remember the self-avowed LGBTQ+ activists accused of sexually abusing their adopted sons? Long after the mainstream media dropped the shocking story, refusing to touch it with a ten-foot pole, Townhall has been the only outlet closely covering the Zulock case hearing-by-hearing, never missing a motion or a court filing.

To recap, William Dale Zulock and Zachary Jacoby Zulock, frequent faces at the Atlanta Pride Parade, are accused of forming a child-prostitution ring in the Atlanta suburbs. The couple was arrested overnight on July 27, 2022, allegedly in the midst of amassing pedophile members, whom they met off of the gay hook-up app Grindr and to whom they would pimp out their elementary-aged children.

Zachary (left) and William (right) Zulock at the Atlanta Pride Parade, carrying rainbow “Born This Way” flags (Zachary Zulock | Instagram)

Among the slew of child sex crimes they’re facing, the Zulocks are charged with producing and distributing “homemade” child pornography with the two boys they had adopted locally through a Christian special-needs adoption agency, All God’s Children, Inc. The now-defunct business prioritized placing children who have “waited the longest” for a family. Many of the kids already came from broken homes. Others were either older or part of a sibling pair bonded together. Some suffered from physical, mental, or behavioral challenges.

In 2018, the same-sex newlyweds apparently passed the “faster than expected” adoption process “with flying colors,” despite the fact that one of the adoptive fathers was previously accused of raping a young boy in another child rape case from years ago. Within months of the children moving in with the alleged child predators, Georgia’s courts made the “forever family” official in early November of that year.

A photograph from the judge’s chambers on the day the Zulocks officially adopted the two boys (Zachary Zulock | Facebook)

The biological brothers, reportedly born to heroin addicts, were only ages 6 and 8 when the years-long sexual abuse allegedly started in late 2019. According to court documents obtained by Townhall, the children were “routinely” raped “at least once a week.” Per the probable cause affidavit, William and Zachary confessed to anally penetrating both boys, forcing the two children to perform oral sex, and doing the same to them. The men acknowledged that the boys would cry out that it hurt when they were being abused, but they’d walk them through “how to handle the pain.”

The older child, who sustained physical injuries from being brutally raped, told police that Zachary, the cameraman, would be in bed recording when William was abusing him. “I’m going to f**k my son tonight,” Zachary allegedly bragged to potential clients, instructing them to “Stand by.” He’d send unsolicited messages describing “what he would do to his son,” the Walton County Sheriff’s Office says.

The Zulock “family” on vacation in 2019 (William Zulock | Instagram)

Authorities were ultimately tipped off by a Snapchat video Zachary allegedly filmed at home in one of the bathrooms. The pornographic clip depicted “an adult male penis was repeatedly being put in the mouth of a prepubescent male.” A ball gag, a blindfold, and bindings were visible in the video, says the search warrant executed on the Zulock house, the so-called “Gayest Place in Town,” according to a welcome mat that adorned the front entryway. Jurassic Park footy pajamas found in the child’s bedroom and a DVR set taken from the in-home “theater room” were on the laundry list of items seized and stored away as evidence.

“Our business is our business. What happens in our home, stays in our home,” the men allegedly told the boys. The children said that they were threatened each time they left the house and directed not to tell anyone about the sexual abuse or “there would be consequences.”

“Our business is our business. What happens in our home, stays in our home,” the gay activist couple allegedly told their sexually abused sons.

LGBTQ-pride decor littered the Zulock mansion. Placed at the entrance: a rainbow Mickey Mouse and a “Gayest Place in Town” welcome mat. pic.twitter.com/G0svd1Ikks— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) January 18, 2023

In a midnight search-and-rescue mission the morning of July 28, 2022, an armed SWAT team descended on the property, tackling Zachary to the foyer floor and busting William butt-naked in bed, as the couple recounted in recorded jailhouse tapes shared with Townhall. Both boys are back in foster care.

If convicted, the couple faces multiple life sentences. Though there’s been much talk about a trial since the summer 2022 arrests, the Zulock case has seemingly ground to a halt, except for some status conferences that have been few and far between.

Here’s what we know so far:

Judge Jeffrey L. Foster, who’s presiding over the proceedings, is eyeing the end of August to set a tentative trial date. 

The next hearing, another status conference after several sprinkled sparingly over many months, is slated for Wednesday, June 26.

“We will be six weeks out from about the ballpark time of the end of August—when I am looking at a trial calendar,” Foster said.

At a March 20 status conference, Foster mentioned scheduling the June hearing in order to navigate setting up a special session for the Zulock case. “I’m plotting—I mean planning now,” Foster said.

The purpose of this previous proceeding was to decide what to do with the defense’s special demurrer.

A special demurrer, a.k.a. a motion for more definitive dates, challenges the charges by asking for additional details or specificity, such as specific dates of when the crimes were committed.

Currently, each charge against the Zulocks alleges an “expansive” date range of when the sexual abuse took place; therefore, that’s too “broad” and “practically impossible” to prepare a defense, including raising an alibi, the Zulocks are arguing in an effort to toss out the 17-count indictment brought by a Georgia grand jury.

The charges are as follows:

• Count 1:Aggravated sodomy (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Performed oral sex on D.Z.
• Count 2: Aggravated sodomy (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Forced D.Z. to perform oral sex
• Count 3: Aggravated sodomy (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Anally raped D.Z.
• Count 4: Incest (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Sodomized D.Z., son by adoption
• Count 5:Aggravated sodomy (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 14, 2022)
  • Accusation: Performed oral sex on J.Z.
• Count 6: Aggravated sodomy (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 14, 2022)
  • Accusation: Forced J.Z. to perform oral sex
• Count 7: Aggravated sodomy (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 14, 2022)
  • Accusation: Anally raped J.Z.
• Count 8: Aggravated child molestation (Dec. 15, 2021 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Anal rape resulting in the injury of J.Z.
• Count 9:Aggravated child molestation (Dec. 15, 2021 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Oral sodomy of J.Z. as to Count 6
• Count 10: Aggravated child molestation (Dec. 15, 2021 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Oral sodomy of J.Z. as to Count 5
• Count 11: Incest (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Sodomized J.Z., son by adoption
• Count 12: Sexual exploitation of children (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Sexually exploited D.Z. for the purpose of producing CSAM
• Count 13: Sexual exploitation of children (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Sexually exploited J.Z. for the purpose of producing CSAM
• Count 14: Sexual exploitation of children (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Produced, possessed, and distributed child pornography depicting the sexual abuse of D.Z. 
• Count 15: Sexual exploitation of children (Dec. 1, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Produced, possessed, and distributed child pornography depicting the sexual abuse of J.Z.
• Count 16: Pandering for person under 18 (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Prostituted J.Z. to co-conspirator Hunter Clayton Lawless
• Count 17: Pandering for person under 18 (Dec. 30, 2019 – July 28, 2022)
  • Accusation: Prostituted J.Z. to co-conspirator Luis Vizcarro-Sanchez

As explained by Brody Law Firm, a boutique Atlanta-area criminal defense firm specializing in sex offense allegations, when “the accusers” are children, kids tend to have difficulty recalling dates or pinpointing time periods, especially if the victims are in the earlier stages of development. For example, a child may say that the sexual abuse happened “when I was in 2nd grade.” The local law firm advises that the special demurrer is an “indispensable tool” to defend against accusations involving young children.

While Georgia law does allow for the prosecution to allege that the crime occurred between two dates, the timespan must be narrowed down as much as possible. If the evidence shows that the state did not do so (i.e. failing to sufficiently particularize the dates), then the indictment could be successfully dismissed by a special demurrer. The defendant would subsequently be entitled to an evidentiary hearing requiring the prosecution to prove that it cannot narrow down dates.

The government can re-indict the case, though, if the indictment is quashed by the court. However, this could afford the defense an opportunity to demonstrate the case’s weakness, ultimately leading to a dismissal of the charges. In the event that the case is indicted again, and the second indictment is found defective, the government is barred from further prosecution of the defendant, per state statute.

The indictment, as it is, is sufficient statutory language-wise and explains exactly what the sexually abusive acts were, Foster ruled. “It doesn’t just say an act of sodomy. It specifies whose mouth or whose rectum, whose sexual organs.”

At this time, they were discussing whether or not to seek a re-indictment of the criminal charges with more counts added on after the defense’s request for specific dates sparked a forensic investigation into the surveillance system that the Zulocks had installed in the interior of their home.

A formidable four terabytes of data, which investigators are continuing to comb through, was extracted from the 16 security cameras stationed all over the house in every single room. The cameras were recording 24 hours a day, seven days a week, capturing everything, including the sexual assaults. “They are all on video filmed throughout multiple rooms in the house,” the prosecution says.