A Nebraska man who posed as a high school student and sexually abused a teenage girl for two months was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, KOLN reported. Reported.
Zachary Shaich, 27, stand According to Nebraska station KLKN, the boy, who is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs just 120 pounds, posed as a 17-year-old student named “Zach Hess” at Southeast High School and Lincoln Southeast High School for 54 days in 2023.
Shaihi, a 2015 graduate of Southeast University, was arrested in July 2023 after authorities discovered he was attending public school classes and engaging in inappropriate relationships with underage students.
Investigators said the man solicited “pornographic material” and sexual acts from a 13-year-old girl and sent explicit messages to 13- and 14-year-old students.
“He targeted, lured and solicited these women through social media,” Deputy County Attorney Amber Scholte said during the sentencing, “while posing as their companion, friend and in some cases their romantic partner. And he did so for his own sexual purpose and gratification.”
Scholte added that Schaich was “a predator of the worst kind.”
Prosecutors said the man fabricated documents and created an “elaborate biography” to portray himself as the same teenager.
Scheihi's associate, 23-year-old Angela Navarro, was also arrested in September 2023 on suspicion of posing as Scheihi's mother under the false name “Danielle Hess” and helping Scheihi enroll.
“After police discovered Shaikh's alias, they contacted Navarro on June 1, 2023, but Navarro claimed to have used a false name,” KOLN reported.
Shaich was sentenced to 85 to 120 years in prison, with parole eligibility after 41 years, for two counts of enticement of a child by electronic communication device, two counts of first-degree sexual assault/indecent assault and one count of attempted second-degree felony assault.
He was originally charged with nine felony counts, but in July he entered a plea deal that waived some of those charges.
“They knew not to talk to adult males on social media. They knew not to meet alone with adult males and they knew how to protect themselves from those risks,” Judge Darla Ideus said during Wednesday's hearing.
“They didn't know how to protect themselves from you. Again, they considered you an ally. They considered you their friend. And you had earned their trust.”
Navarro, Shaich's alleged accomplice, pleaded not guilty to a charge of impersonating a felony felon and was released in April on $450 bail. New York Post Reported.
KOLN also reported that the crime caused $6,000 in damages to the Lincoln Public School District.
“In light of this incident, LPS is reviewing its enrollment procedures,” the district said in a statement obtained by KLKN after Shaich's arrest.
