A Snapchat predator was sentenced to life in prison after he sexually assaulted a teenage girl before stabbing her a total of 86 times.
The girl, 15, crossed paths with Zachery Iona, 22, on Snapchat and the two began conversing normally. Iona was eventually given permission to visit the teen at her home in Georgia.
He arrived with a full kill kit: several rolls of duct tape, rope, and a knife. He tied her up, sealed her mouth with duct tape, and proceeded to rape her.
The sick act became more violent as Iona began stabbing the teen in her face, torso, neck, legs and arms as he continued to sexual assault her. Once his blood lust was satisfied, he fled the scene.
The violated and bludgeoned teen managed to crawl to the nearest phone and dial for help. She was soon transported to the hospital where doctors found at least 86 stab wounds and cuts on her body. Police identified the suspect through a photo on the victim’s Snapchat account, which led them to Iona’s car where duct tape, rope, and blood were found.
“If you participate in this type of criminal activity, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Marcus Garner, spokesperson for the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office. The girl expressed gratitude in court for being able to live another day after Iona’s brutal attack.
After multiple surgeries and several sessions of physical therapy, the teen has regained her ability to walk. “Children are being enticed, their ages are teenagers, there is a larger number of females than males,” said Staca Shehan, vice president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Staca explained how the chronological events of this case mirror a dozen others. “Children are more often being picked up by the abductor directly. The abductor is traveling directly to the child when the child goes missing,” said Staca.
Iona pled guilty to the following charges: rape, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, statutory rape, child molestation and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony in Gwinnett County Superior Court. Those counts culminated in a life sentence – Iona will spend 30 years in prison and then undergo five years of parole and compulsory sex offender registration as discussed in his negotiated plea.
“Because he used a deadly weapon, there’s an additional five years. After those five years, he would be potentially eligible for parole. By then, he would be 57 years old,” Garner explained.