Ex-Army medic who recorded himself molesting child gets more than 17 years in U.S. prison

As family members wept in the gallery, a federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a decorated Army veteran from Uniontown to 17½ years in prison for sending a recording of himself molesting a child to an undercover FBI agent in a pedophile chat room.

After a four-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak imposed that term on Zachary Bosh, 39, who immediately told his lawyer he would appeal.

Bosh’s family and friends expressed outrage at the length of the sentence, with one saying that people who commit murder get less time.

Bosh and his lawyer, Lyle Dresbold, had argued for 15 years, saying he deserves credit for his Army service as a medic in Iraq and his Bronze Star for valor. Bosh enlisted at 16.

The judge took that into consideration as well as the many family members and friends who wrote letters on Bosh’s behalf. He also rejected the government’s request for 262 months in prison, or more than 21 years, saying it was more than is necessary.

He settled on 210 months and a lifetime of probation.

Bosh had admitted that he recorded himself sexually assaulting the girl and sending real-time videos to someone with whom he was talking online about abusing the child.

“I’m not going to attempt to label that,” the judge said. “It speaks for itself.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Silinski didn’t have any problem labeling it. She called it “egregious” and “absolutely unconscionable.”

In addition to sending a series of seven videos, Bosh told his online pen pal that he wanted to rape the girl “so bad” and had sexually abused her in the past.

The victim, now a teenager, testified in secret in the judge’s chambers and according to the defense asked for leniency for Bosh, but the record is sealed to protect her identity.

“I’m extremely sorry,” Bosh said for himself, explaining that he had made “bad decisions.” He asked for the minimum sentence of 15 years so he can get on with his life as soon as possible. He’ll get sex offender and mental health treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues while in prison.

Bosh had argued that the Concerta medication he takes for PTSD and attention deficit symptoms contributed to changes in his sexual behavior.

The Bosh case has been contentious from the start. He backed out of plea deals two times, which is unusual for child porn defendants. After he pulled out the first time, Judge Hornak warned him that if he didn’t take the deal he might end up in prison for 30 years.

The case is also noteworthy for the vitriol exhibited by Bosh’s wife. In defending her husband, she called the investigating FBI agent “scum” and had similar nasty labels for a reporter covering the case. She said the agent and the reporter had ruined her family’s life and accused the government of being too aggressive in pursuing her husband.

The government said the blame lies with Bosh.

“He chose the conduct he engaged in,” Silinski said.

Bosh pleaded guilty last summer to producing a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

The investigation began in April 2019 when Bosh entered a Kik chat room for child predators.

He started talking to a like-minded pedophile. He then sent seven videos of himself molesting a young girl on a bed while carrying on a running narrative with the other man in which he expressed a desire for the two of them to rape the girl at the same time, among other vile descriptions.

His online friend was an agent. The FBI immediately requested an emergency disclosure from Kik to identify the user and called state police to go to the house. Troopers arrested Bosh.

The district attorney’s office in Fayette County prosecuted him for the molestation while the U.S. attorney’s office handled the video production. Bosh pleaded no contest in state court and served two years.