This is Part 1 of a four-part investigative series.
Content Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
A
months-long Townhall investigation reveals disturbing new details about
the affluent LGBTQ-activist couple accused of sodomizing their young
adopted sons—now ages 9 and 11—and distributing "homemade" child
pornography of the sexual abuse. Half a year after the shocking story
made national news, Townhall is the only outlet following up on the
criminal case in Georgia that has since seen zero headlines written
about it. We've found that it's far, far worse than what was first reported.
Not
only did the married men allegedly rape the two boys who were adopted
through a Christian special-needs adoption agency, they were pimping out
their children to nearby pedophiles in Atlanta-area suburbs, Townhall's
follow-up investigation discovered.
Recorded jailhouse calls, a
trove of never-before-seen court documents, and testimony from a family
member who spoke exclusively with Townhall uncover the extent of the
physical and emotional trauma the two elementary school-aged brothers
endured as well as the red flags that the state overlooked during the
same-sex couple's "faster than expected" adoption process.
The Zulock family on vacation at the beach | William Zulock (Instagram)
As Townhall reported in August, the suspects were darlings of the LGBTQ media. They were part of an anti-gay hate campaign promoting "#NOH8," and Out magazine, which holds the nation's highest circulation among LGBTQ monthly publications, has repeatedly asked them if its website's Pride page can feature their photos taken at the Atlanta Pride Parade.
Charges
The
adoptive fathers, 33-year-old government worker William Dale Zulock Jr.
and 35-year-old banker Zachary "Zack" Jacoby Zulock—who was previously
accused of raping a child—from Oxford, Georgia, have been indicted by a
grand jury on charges of incest, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child
molestation, felony sexual exploitation of children, and felony
prostitution of a minor.
William and Zachary are each facing over nine life sentences. They've pleaded not guilty.
William (left) and Zachary Zulock (right) mugshots | Walton County Sheriff's Office
According
to a copy of the 17-count indictment Townhall has obtained, the
adoptive dads allegedly performed oral sex on both boys, forced the
children to perform oral sex on them, and anally raped their sons. In at
least one instance, the anal rape injured the older Zulock child, who
just turned 11-years-old in mid-December. Court records indicate that
the child sexual abuse stretches back to as early as late 2019 and
intensified in January 2021, March 2021, and December 2021, as the
offense dates are listed.
The brothers were enrolled in third and
fourth-grade, respectively, before the men were caught in a midnight
July bust at the Zulock mansion, which ended with Zachary tackled to the
ground and William hauled out of the house naked by armed officers.
The
two Zulock boys, whose faces were censored by Zachary Zulock, in first-
and second-grade holding academic certificates from the 2019 - 2020
school year, when the child sexual abuse is alleged to have started |
Zachary Zulock (Facebook)
William
admitted to forcing his 11-year-old adopted son to perform an act of
sodomy, a.k.a. "oral copulation," on him "with the intent to satisfy his
own...sexual desire," reads a sworn affidavit filed in support of
William's overnight arrest back on July 27.
(Townhall has redacted the children's names to protect the identities of the underage victims.)
Affidavit in support of William Zulock's arrest | Walton County Magistrate Court
An
updated criminal affidavit says the child sexual abuse was filmed by
William's husband Zachary, "with whom he routinely engaged in sexually
abusive acts" on the boy. Zachary, the household's breadwinner,
confessed to being the cameraman, and authorities allegedly found a
folder on his cell phone—labeled "US"—that contained videos of William
sexually abusing the child.
Updated affidavit for William Zulock's arrest | Walton County Magistrate Court
The
indictment also charges the Zulock co-defendants with soliciting two
other men, through the use of popular social media platforms, in the
Greater Atlanta metropolitan region to "perform an act of prostitution"
with their child that suffered physical injuries from being brutally
raped. Townhall is the first to publicly identify these two alleged
members of a pedophile ring in the heart of the Peach State: 27-year-old
Hunter Clay Lawless and 25-year-old Luis Armando Vizcarro-Sanchez, both
of Loganville.
Count 16 of the indictment naming Lawless | Walton County Superior Court
Count 17 of the indictment naming Vizcarro-Sanchez | Walton County Superior Court
Lawless,
who snitched on the Zulocks, told local law enforcement he received
"numerous" messages via Snapchat from Zachary about "f*cking [his] son
tonight" and to "be prepared" to receive images as well as videos of the
father raping his adopted child.
Affidavit in support of Zachary Zulock's arrest | Walton County Magistrate Court
Zachary
met Lawless through a mutual contact, an unidentified man going only by
the first name "Blake" on the gay dating app Grindr. Following the
virtual introduction, Zachary sent photographs and videos to Lawless of a
little boy he referred to as his son.
"I'm going to f*ck my son
tonight. Stand by," Zachary allegedly messaged Lawless on Snapchat and
then sent pictures of himself sexually abusing his 11-year-old child.
After he was busted, Lawless denied having had any physical contact with
the Zulock boys but told law enforcement officers that Zachary invited
him "multiple times" to engage in sexual acts with him and his two
children.
A list of the state's evidence includes 149 images
collected at the Zulock home; two flash drives containing Zachary and
Lawless's phone data; Sexual Assault Nurse Examination (SANE) results
from the children's medical forensic exams, which gathered DNA evidence
such as bodily fluids and documented injuries; a text message from
Lawless; a Snapchat letter; two written letters from the older Zulock
child; and a disk containing a data dump from Vizcarro-Sanchez's iPad
and iPhone.
List of the state's evidence in the Zulock case | Walton County Superior Court
A
photo of a "daddy" shirt is also an evidentiary item listed by the
district attorney's office. Police had found clothes in the older Zulock
child's bedroom that matched the clothing the boy was wearing in the
photos and videos Zachary allegedly sent Lawless.
Years ago, Zachary had proudly displayed a child-sized "So Cool Like Dad" T-shirt he received as a gift at his adoption shower.
Zachary Zulock holding a child's "So Cool Like Dad" shirt at their adoption shower
The
relative on Zachary's side of the family, who agreed to speak with
Townhall on the condition of anonymity, grilled Zachary during a series
of recorded phone conversations in the fall of 2022 on who exactly
Lawless is and how he knows the suspect:
"I mean, like I
said, I mean, not everything that's being said is accurate or true. So, I
mean, and I'm trying not to lose everything," Zachary, who's being held
separately from William while in pre-trial detainment, replied. Zachary was transferred to Barrow County Detention Center and placed under "maximum" security "due to the nature of the charges," a jail staffer told Townhall.
Zachary Zulock's mugshot taken upon transfer | Barrow County Sheriff's Office
"Does this guy [Lawless] know you at all? Or is it some random thing? He's just trying to rat somebody?" the relative asked.
"Umm,
so last time he was here, I told him something. And it's—I told
you—last time he was here, I wrote him down something and gave it to
him. Umm, it's something around those lines but more," Zachary responded
vaguely, without explaining further.
Zachary insisted in a separate phone call: "All I can say is, you know, it's not all true. That's all I can say."
"I
need someone in the family who doesn't hate me. So, I mean, I can't
tell you what to feel or—I can't cry right now around other people,"
Zachary pleaded in lock-up, audibly starting to sob on the phone. "I
just need somebody who doesn't hate us!" he cried.
"Just don't forget me," Zachary beseeched the relative at the end of their first call in September.
Zachary
began frantically searching for Lawless's profile on Facebook last
January, the relative, who has access to his social media accounts,
observed. Over on Snapchat, Zachary has active, unopened chats with multiple men, according to the source.
Zachary Zulock's Instagram page and a preview of his Snapchat chat with Lawless
Zachary, who lists his Snapchat username in his Instagram bio where
the self-described activist brags about being "Papa to our two
wonderful boys," admitted to sending such material to "less than a dozen
people." There are other potential co-defendants under investigation
that are "out there" circulating videos of the Zulock boys, Alcovy
Judicial Circuit District Attorney Randy McGinley, who serves Walton
County, told the court at a Sept. 7 bond hearing, according to a
transcript provided to Townhall.
"They just view underage boys as sex objects," McGinley said of the Zulock co-defendants at the virtual court appearance.
Raid and Seizure
Since
the Zulocks have been taken into custody, the married men's assets have
been seized, their vehicles have been forfeited, and their home is now
the "property" of the state with a lien filed against it, the Zulock
couple's criminal defense attorney John E. Haldi said in court, adding
that a sign on the Zulock house says: "Do not enter. Property of the
Walton County Sheriff's Office."
Exterior
of the Zulock mansion: back (top left), three-car garage (top right),
front door (bottom left), front (bottom center), and pathway to the
entrance (bottom right)
"It's B.S. that they took our house," a frustrated William stuck in Walton County Jail protested
via an hour-long phone call with the Zulock family insider. "They
seized the house, everything inside of it, all of our cars on the
property," William said of the seizure.
William recounted
the night of the armed raid on the Zulock residence: "They came in 11:30
at night. I was asleep. Zack was asleep. They were going to bust down
our door if Zack didn't open the door." The relative asked, "They rammed
the door down?"
"They were about to, but Zack heard them
knocking. And he actually went and opened the door. They slammed him on
the floor. And, umm, I hate to say this, but," William paused
momentarily, chuckling in a lowered voice. "I don't sleep in clothes,"
he said.
"So, they arrested me in my bed naked," William
complained. "And they walked me across my front yard, put me in a
[police] cruiser with no clothes. They wouldn't even let me get gym
shorts or anything." William added that he sat stark naked in the back
seat of the patrol car until approximately 4:00 a.m. the following
morning "while they searched our house for God knows what."
William Zulock naked on the beach | William Zulock (Instagram)
"Yeah, you can tell in Zack's mugshot that he has a big bruise on the left side of his face," the family member said.
"Yeah,
'cause they slammed him against the floor in the foyer. He had bruises
on his knees, his face. They come in blazing with AK-47s or whatever,"
William continued, recalling about 10 to 15 officers. "They were doing
like a drug bust or something."
"'Cause they come in screamin' and hollerin' and—overkill," William whined. "I'm pretty sure they ransacked the whole house."
"I
think they took our house because they think there was extra money
coming in from somewhere, and we're, like, in our 30s and have this big,
giant house. And they didn't think we could afford it," William said,
describing the custom-built home he designed.
The couple's "dream home"
sits on a two-acre secluded cul-de-sac in a private, prestigious
upscale neighborhood where pre-existing houses are selling for as much
as $900,000. Construction of the mansion from the ground up
took only half a year in 2020. "The kids love the forest behind us and
the playroom for all their toys," William wrote in a post celebrating
its completion.
Zachary Zulock with the house under construction | Zachary Zulock (Facebook)
Beforehand,
the Zulocks lived out of a small house in Snellville, which neighbors
Loganville, at the time the boys were adopted. The couple's lavish
lifestyle began to materialize about a year after the Zulock men got the
boys, the family insider told Townhall.
In addition to the
Zulocks considering purchasing the adjacent property, Zachary told
friends they were looking to buy a condo over the next few years
somewhere in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach along the southern tip of Alabama's white-sand coastline.
"Getting ideas for our next house," William had cheekily captioned a picture taken in North Carolina outside of the Biltmore Estate, a 250-room, 8,000-acre castle that is considered America's largest home and belongs to the industrialist Vanderbilt family.
William
went on to accuse Walton County law enforcement officials of "spinning
some lies to seize our house," asserting: "I've come to find out that
most of these police officers in this county smudge and lie just so they
can get a higher conviction rate."
"Me and Zack worked our butts off for everything we've had," William later declared.
DA
McGinley explained in an email to Townhall that his office had filed a
civil complaint seeking to forfeit the Zulock property. "Forfeitures are
a civil proceeding, but handled by my office," McGinley wrote. (In
response, the Zulocks filed an answer, and then McGinley's office filed a
motion for a more definitive statement, which states that the answer
was insufficient under the law.)
The two Zulock men
were both denied bond when Judge Foster determined that the
co-defendants are threats to children in the community, flight risks,
"at risk to commit new felony offenses," and could intimidate and
influence witnesses or victims.
"That was a sack of bricks that was dropped on everybody at the bond hearing," William commented to the relative.
Inside the 'Gayest Place in Town'
Nestled
within a suburban paradise, the Zulock mansion turned-"house of
horrors" had surveillance cameras installed in "every square foot" of
the property, the family member told Townhall. There was also a
"secret," windowless room the size of a closet without any doors hidden
behind a moveable bookcase in the home office that the cops left open,
which felt like something out of "a horror movie," the relative said.
Another "creepy" interior room devoid of windows was purportedly used as
a "home theater."
Pride decor inside the Zulock mansion | Zachary Zulock (Facebook)
LGBTQ-pride
paraphernalia littered the family's extravagantly furnished
four-bedroom, five-bathroom house (plus a packed three-car garage),
including a rainbow Mickey Mouse stuffed animal placed atop a "Love
Above All" pillow on the foyer's loveseat, where Zachary was swarmed by
the SWAT team, and a neon "Love is Love" sign that adorned the kitchen's granite countertop.
The
lamp's pro-inclusivity phrase—a mainstream LGBTQ mantra that
self-styled "minor-attracted persons" (MAPs) have co-opted in a
rebranding campaign that attempts to normalize sexual attraction to
children—is one Zachary frequently promoted online.
Zachary Zulock promoting the "Love is Love" phrase | Zachary Zulock (Instagram)
(The Zulocks own a collection of exotic pets, including a gopher tortoise, which Georgia recognizes as a protected species, in violation of state law,
according to a ticket issued by the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources. "In the interest of judicial economy," the state moved to
dismiss the citation, given the alarming lot of life sentences the
Zulock co-defendants are facing.)
Zachary,
a Biden voter and ardent Black Lives Matter advocate who championed
left-wing causes on Facebook, also often posted images of the house's
exterior, where a welcome mat emblazoned with "Gayest Place in Town" sat
at the front door.
The doormats at the Zulock mansion | Zachary Zulock (Facebook)
"Our business is our business. What happens in our home, stays in our home," the gay couple allegedly told their abused sons.
Beyond
the child sexual abuse, "as punishment" during after-school hours, the
Zulock boys were forced to stand in a corner for "eight hours straight"
over back-to-back days, only being allowed to move to either eat or use
the bathroom. William was also witnessed slapping their younger son
"hard" in the face. "They were just abused every possible way," the
relative told Townhall.
The relative asked Zachary
if he's worried about the two boys and wondering where his sons are. "I
mean, yeah, but I definitely can't talk about that. But, umm, I mean,
yeah, and then I'm concerned about the house and everything. Because,
you know, nothing's being paid, obviously because I'm here. The longer
things that go on, the worse all that gets," Zachary responded.
"The sooner we get out, the sooner I can manage our finances because things are gonna start piling up..." Zachary emphasized.
William
is concerned as well about bills and monthly expenses. "We do have,
like, subscription stuff that needs cancelled like, you know, Disney +,
Amazon Video. All that needs to be cancelled because it's auto-hitting
our credit card," William stressed.
"The boys were just another commodity to them," the family member voiced to Townhall.
Chandeliers in the foyer and dining room, the "Zulock Family" coathooks, and the sunroom in the Zulock mansion | Zachary Zulock (Facebook)
Zachary
seemed like an "animated people-pleaser" with a penchant for
"self-promotion." Now, the case has "destroyed the illusion of who I
thought he was," the family member said. "What a narcissistic
sociopath." Another relative conveyed to Townhall's insider that
Zachary's "overachieving" "persona" was nothing more than "a facade" to
portray a public image of "success," while the once blue-haired William, who was the "quiet" and "hard-to-read" one, "always made my skin f*cking crawl."
The
family is questioning, in hindsight, how a low-level civil servant and a
small-town bank teller could indulge in such niceties.
After an application was submitted for representation by a public defender,
a letter addressed to William shows that the county's Indigent Defense
Program found he is ineligible, citing equity ownership and his spouse's
whopping $7,500-a-week income. A similar denial memo was also sent to
Zachary, who handles their money, pointing to his supposed well-to-do
weekly earnings.
According to Zachary's since-deleted LinkedIn page, he was a branch coordinator at the SunTrust bank in Duluth—a career he touts on Pride-themed T-shirts. But the latest Glassdoor data says the position only carries a modest $62,000 in annual pay.
Zachary
(left) in his rainbow-colored SunTrust T-shirt and William Zulock
(right) wearing Pride suspenders on a date night at Truist Park | Zachary Zulock (Facebook)
Townhall
contacted the site's bank supervisor to confirm whether or not if
Zachary is still employed and truly raking in a six-figure salary.
"Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to make any comments," the on-duty
manager stated over the phone. "We can't verify any information in
regards" to Zachary's current employment at the SunTrust branch or how
much he makes, the manager said.
Zachary took
vacation time using leftover paid-time-off (PTO) for the first week or
two in jail. Then, he tried to place himself on a leave of absence, but
management wouldn't hear his plight. "I'm pretty sure I don't work there
anymore [...] which is fine, 'cause I didn't like it anyways. So, it's
whatever. But, I'm pretty sure I don't have one [a job] anymore,"
Zachary told his family member.
Zachary Zulock dressed for work in a rainbow Atlanta Braves shirt
(Back when Zachary was a universal bank specialist at PNC Bank, he and William marched yearly in the Atlanta Pride Parade carrying rainbow "Born This Way" pride flags and sporting orange PNC shirts made by the financial services corporation, a corporate partner and sponsor of the annual event. The marital partners also participated in Aids Walk Atlanta year after year.)
Zachary
(left) and William Zulock (right) carrying rainbow "Born This Way"
flags while walking in the 2017 Atlanta Pride Parade | Zachary Zulock (Instagram)
Meanwhile, William worked as a supervisor at the county's Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) customer service center off of Heritage Parkway,
where he often assisted teenage student drivers who were seeking to
obtain their learner's permit or driver's license. Prior to hiring, all DDS personnel underwent a background check, which included a criminal history report.
Townhall
called DDS headquarters to inquire about William's employment status.
"We don't give that information out over the phone," the office of
investigations told Townhall. "I won't be able to give you any personal
information about the employee."
"The only money we
had coming in is my paycheck [and] Zack's paycheck," William maintained.
"And then we never told anybody, because it wasn't anybody's business,
but we get child support for the kids from the state," he revealed to
the relative.
"Oh, you still get child support from the state?"
the family member asked. "Mhm, until they're 18," he replied. "I didn't
know that happened after they were adopted," the relative stated.
William, laughing, said: "I didn't know that either until we adopted
them."
When questioned about the legal-defense paperwork, William countered, "That's something they pulled out of their rear end."
"Did
you mean the information on the finances or what they said in the bond
hearing?" the family member asked William. "Probably about the finances
and what Zack makes," William answered, not outright denying what was
alleged in the courtroom.
Stay tuned for Part 2,
to be released on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, detailing the Zulocks'
co-conspirators, the scale of the abuse, and if the Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act could be applied to such a case.
