A male nanny in California who advertised himself on his website as “the original Sitter Buddy” has been sentenced to 705 years to life plus two years and eight months for molesting 16 boys, ages 2 to 12, under his care and showing pornography to a 17th boy.
Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski, 34, was sentenced this week, prosecutors in Orange County said in a news release.
Parents gave emotional victim impact statements, expressed outrage at his deception and compared Zakrzewski to an animal, prosecutors said.
From a statement, Zakrzewski said he prided himself on “bringing smiles to your children, and all the good times we shared were 100% genuine” as weeping parents covered their ears.
Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski (Screenshot from Los Angeles’ KABC-TV)
On his “Sitter Buddy” website, Zakrzewski advertised himself as a “manny” — for male nanny — offering overnight and vacation babysitting services, mentorships, and big brother relationships, authorities said.
“In the eighth grade I discovered what a joy it was to work with children and be a positive impact in their lives through my school’s ‘Buddy Program,’” prosecutors said he posted.
But Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer says he was a “monster disguised by smiles and giggles” engaged in the most horrific and calculated manipulation to ensure he would continue to have access to children.
The first case came to light in May 2019 when a couple who’d hired Zakrzewski through one of his websites had touched their 8-year-old son inappropriately, prosecutors said.
A police investigation uncovered 11 other victims across Southern California dating to 2014.
He was arrested in 2019 at an airport while getting off an international flight.
He was convicted of 34 felonies, including lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14, oral copulation of a child under the age of 10, possession of child pornography, using a minor for sex acts, distributing pornography to a minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct, and attempted lewd or lascivious act with a minor under the age of 14, authorities said.
“This is a case of shattered innocence and precious childhoods that were robbed from 17 little boys,” said Spitzer. “These children will never know the people they were truly intended to be — because their childhoods were suddenly and inexplicably interrupted not by a wolf at the door, but by a predator masquerading as godsend. Children are not born knowing how to lie, but this master manipulator taught these very young children to lie — and to keep secrets from their own parents.
“These innocent little boys must bear a lifetime of trauma, and their parents will bear a lifetime of pain, knowing that they put their precious children in the arms of an animal because they believed who he said he was,” he added. “But that was a lie. He had no interest in protecting these children; his only interest was in preying on their innocence and filming the assaults for his sick sexual gratification. We cannot undo the trauma inflicted so unnecessarily on these children, but we can do everything we can to help support these families as they try to put back together the broken pieces of their children.”
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