OXFORD, Ga. – Alcovy Judicial Circuit Court District Attorney Randy McGinley announced that the two Oxford men who had adopted two young boys and then sexually abused them pleaded guilty to their crimes and were sentenced to 100 years in prison.
William Dale Zulock and his spouse Zachary Jacoby Zulock pleaded guilty in August and were sentenced on Dec. 19, 2024 for their crimes.
The couple was arrested in the summer of 2022 and charged with 17 counts each of various counts of aggravated child molestation and sexual exploitation of children including charges of aggravated sodomy, incest and pandering for persons under 18.
The Defendants were facing sentences for the following crimes:
William Zulock: Six counts of aggravated sodomy, three counts of aggravated child molestation, two counts of incest and two counts of sexual exploitation of children.
Zachary Zulock: Two counts of Aggravated Sodomy, three counts of aggravated child molestation, two counts of incest, two counts of sodomy, three counts of sexual exploitation of children and two counts of pandering for a person under 18.
According to a press release from McGinley, after hearing arguments from both the State and the defense, the court essentially followed the State’s sentencing recommendation for both defendants: 100 years in prison followed by life on probation. Because of the nature of the offenses, the defendants will not be eligible for parole for the entire 100 years.
The case was prosecuted by McGinley, senior assistant District Attorney Lacey Majors, victim services director Kim Kelly, senior legal assistant Melanie Sims, as well as investigators Josh Chambers, Alicia Chandler, Eric Yarbrough and Melindy White. The case was investigated by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the GBI, including their Cyber Crimes Center, Walton County DFCS, the Walton County District Attorney’s Office and others.
The investigation was initiated by the WCSO following a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about suspected homemade child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that had been uploaded to a Google account with an IP address in Walton County. WCSO investigators subsequently executed a search warrant at that address where they met with Hunter Lawless who admitted to receiving and viewing CSAM. Lawless told them he received the pictures and videos from “Zach Zulock.”
Lawless later pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children and was sentenced to 20 years with the first 12 years in prison and agreed to fully cooperate in any prosecution of the Zulocks.
Following further investigation search warrants were obtained for both Loganville and Oxford residences where both Zachary and William Zulock lived with the victims, the two boys who had been adopted by the Zulocks a few years before. Both defendants were interviewed that night and admitted to sexually abusing both boys over a period of time.
Evidence seized included video and surveillance cameras from inside the house. GBI investigations went through more than seven terabytes of video. According to the press release, thorough analysis found videos of multiple incidents of the defendants committing sexual abuse in different parts of the house. Cell phones were analyzed which contained graphic images and videos of the abuse as well as graphic text and social media messages about the sexual abuse.
In addition, through evidence collected from the cell phones, Luis Vizcarro-Sanchez was found to be receiving messages from Zachary Zulock about sexual abuse of one of the victims. Vizcarro-Sanchez later pleaded guilty to pandering for a person under 18 as well as numerous counts of computer theft in which he was stealing from his employer, the Loganville Kroger. He received a sentence of 60 years with the first 15 years in prison as well as a requirement that he testify in any proceeding or trial of the Zulocks.
“I am grateful for the hard work of so many to obtain an appropriate outcome in this case. The hard work of law enforcement put an end to the abuse suffered by the victims and this resolution will help the victims continue their process of healing. William and Zachary Zulock will now spend 100 years in prison without parole. This all but guarantees that the victims will not have to worry as they grow older about their abusers being free,” McGinley said. “It cannot be stressed enough how important it is for our society to have individuals willing to adopt children in need. But anyone who does so and then abuses those children deserves extremely harsh consequences and decades in prison. The sentence imposed not only appropriately punishes these Defendants for their repeated selfish actions but also sends the message to the public that such actions will never be taken lightly.
“Those involved with the investigation and prosecution of this case will never forget what they had to see and hear in this case. These two Defendants truly created a house of horrors and put their extremely dark desires above everything and everyone else. However, the depth of the Defendants’ depravity, which is as deep as it gets, is not greater than the resolve of those that fought for justice and the strength of the victims in this case. The resolve I have seen from these two young victims over the last two years is truly inspiring.”
