Who is Zackary Sanders' father? Son of telemedicine pioneer gets 18 years for child porn
The son of a celebrated doctor — who is dubbed the "father of telemedicine" and is worth millions of dollars — has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for multiple counts related to child pornography.
The federal judge who sentenced 27-year-old Zackary Sanders described the convict as a "pretty amazing, inventive, energetic young man" but added, "what you did was wrong." Zackary's father, 84-year-old Jay Sanders, is a Harvard alum who popularized telemedicine while advising the Clinton administration in the 1990s.
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According to Daily Mail, the Sanders family owned a $3.4 million, seven-bedroom home n McLean, Virginia, but sold it five months before Zackary was convicted at trial. Court documents stated this was the same property where 26 law enforcement agents carried out an early morning raid in February 2020. Officers are said to have "pulled Mr. Sanders's parents out of their home and forced Mr. Sanders at gunpoint into his mother's office."
The report noted how Zachary's mother Risa, 64, appeared tense while she was in court last week for the sentencing of her son in Alexandria, Virginia. Judge T.S. Ellis handed down the jail term for 12 counts relating to receiving, producing, and possessing child pornography. The court heard how Zachary engaged in inappropriate conversations with at least six minors on social media apps and was in possession of disturbing photos and videos, including one depicting the sexual abuse of a toddler. Court records state that he directed five of the minors in question to engage in sexually explicit activities which entailed harming themselves and filming it before sending the videos to him. Prosecutors highlighted how Zachary possessed footage of underage children being "subjected to sadistic acts."
#Breaking Convicted of Sexual Exploitation of Minors: Zackary Ellis Sanders of McLean, engaged in sexual conversations over multiple mobile messaging platforms with at least six different minors. He is scheduled to be sentenced on 5/4/22 and faces penalty of 15 years in prison pic.twitter.com/yHCpPkXVo8
— Ryan Sprouse (@RSprouseNews) October 27, 2021
The convict will have to register as a sex offender upon release and will be subject to supervision for the rest of his life. Speaking to Zachary in court, Judge Ellis noted that some of the images he possessed were "quite awful." He added, "You're a smart young man, you can do better. But you need to understand what you did was wrong, it was criminal and you cannot do it ever again."
Who is Zackary Ellis Sanders' father?
Zackary lived a privileged life prior to his conviction. His highly successful father Jay Sanders is the president of Global Telemedicine Group, whose clientele includes the World Health Organization and the US Department of Defense. Jay is also an adjunct professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and has served as the telemedicine representative to the G8 group of industrialized nations during President Bill Clinton's era. Jay helped establish the first telemedicine facility in a correctional institute, and in 1991, he designed the telemedicine system for the state of Georgia — the first of its kind and a model for many other states to follow.
Meet Dr. Jay Sanders,father of telemedicine is also a member of the Shivom Innovation Council. Dr. Jay Sanders is a graduate of Harvard Medical School whilst being a founding member of the American Telemedicine Association and a pioneer advocate and activist in this field . pic.twitter.com/3dD8wO3CNy
— HLTH.network (@HLTH_network) April 3, 2018
That said, the Sanders family has arguably spent a fortune in the legal representation of their son, roping in several different lawyers who filed emergency motions to keep Zachary out of prison. The family has even sued the FBI for allegedly breaching FOIA laws and has requested records from the agency related to its sex trafficking investigations. Furthermore, Risa testified in court that she would be willing to do whatever the court wanted, including removing Zachary's electronic devices and making him wear a monitoring device.
Judge Ellis said he had seen "seven or eight" different law firms defending Zachary, thus giving an idea of the amount of money his family spent on legal representation. Ellis said during sentencing that he had "no doubts his parents will continue to support him" but ruled that Zachary was too broke to pay a $60,000 special assessment, which would have to wait until he served his sentence. The judge noted that the sex offender's only possession was his car — aside from his family's wealth — and even showered praise saying he expected he would bounce back after completing his jail term.
"He is a pretty amazing, inventive, energetic young man. Enterprising would be the best word I could use," Ellis said of Zachary. "Even as a child, he developed a business…I have no doubt that while his conviction would be a significant burden if he wants to work for Goldman Sachs, it will not be a significant burden if he becomes an entrepreneur, which he will. I think he does have earning potential in the future," the judge added.