SAN ANTONIO — It started simply enough.
Investigators say long-time Camelot resident Paul C. Zappe III asked a cable technician to come to his home for a repair job early in 2020.
An affidavit for an arrest warrant reveals that as the tech worked on trouble shooting the problem, a home computer monitor came to life, and revealed numerous pictures of nude children. The technician, alarmed by what he saw, reached out to law enforcement and Bexar County Sheriff's detectives obtained a search warrant to look for evidence of a crime.
Court records reflect that investigators confiscated a home computer, several hard drives, flash drives and a cellular phone and they say when they examined the technology they found child pornography, involving children who appeared to be eight to 12 years old. The affidavit says on Zappe's phone, they found videos created by the man that showed him sexually assaulting a young boy.
A young female victim was found as well, with videos of the girl being assaulted by both Zappe and a young boy.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar says the case is made even more egregious by the fact that the children involved are special needs kids.
"What we were able to determine is that apparently Zappe, who had been left to care for these two children, special needs children, took advantage of that situation and in fact, sexually assaulted these children and produced child pornography as a result of those attacks," Salazar said.
Quoting directly from the investigator's observations in the affidavit: "...the sexual activity has been occurring over a long period of time, due to the fact that the young male seems comfortable with the acts."
Reflecting on the implications of long-term abuse, Salazar said "I don't think I could describe a sadder situation than what was seen on that video."
Salazar said while his detectives worked on state charges involving the sexual assaults, federal investigators began working on child pornography charges.
"Thankfully, due to the fact that everybody was working together, the civilians that reported this, the agencies working together, the families of these two young kids working together, the end result was a successful conviction of Zappe." Salazar said.
In state court, Zappe was handed a 20 year sentence and just last week in federal court, he was assessed an additional term of 60 years in prison for production of child pornography.
"The defendant's egregious abuse of two young children targeted for their special needs is abhorrent," said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff. "The defendant preyed upon the most vulnerable in our society for his own sexual gratification. He violated their trust and that of their parents. Our communities cannot tolerate these types of child predators and we will continue to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."
"It is unconscionable that every day, criminals prey upon innocent children by sexually assaulting them and producing child pornography," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs. "This case is all the more horrific because the subject harmed special needs children. The FBI is committed to finding perpetrators like this one that commit terrible crimes and seeking justice for all who have been victimized."
Because Zappe is now 76 years old, Salazar says he feels safe in saying he won't be able to victimize any other children.
"I feel it's safe to say that this suspect, at his advanced age, is going to die in prison and will not be able to do this to any children ever again," Salazar said.
In addition to the prison time, Zappe was ordered to forfeit virtually everything valuable he owned to pay restitution to the young victims.
Zappe was ordered to surrender his Camelot home, two vehicles and electronic equipment. He has been ordered to pay each of the two victims $81,000.
Salazar said "The home was seized because it was used as a criminal instrument, being as it was where the sexual assaults occurred and we were able to utilize the law to the fullest extent to allow us to seize that home and those two vehicles."
Salazar said he hopes the restitution order helps the child victims recover. "Although their lives will never be the same, I'm hoping because of the actions that we took, it will at least get them further down the road to recovery," Salazar said.
Because Zappe had been an active volunteer at his church and a local fraternal service organization, Salazar said it's possible there could be other victims who have not yet come forward.
"The search continues because it's possible this suspect had ready access to children over the course of decades. So, we certainly wouldn't rule that out. We would encourage anyone who has ever been a victim of this suspect, or any other for that matter, to give is a call. They can call the Bexar County Sheriff's Office CID at 210-335-6070 or they can email us at bcsotips@bexar.org.
Salazar said he feels a great deal of sympathy for the parents of the youngsters, as they too are victims.
To ensure that special needs youngsters are protected, it's important to note that there are a number of reputable non-profit organizations that offer free help and referrals to families. That list includes:
Any Baby Can
210-227-0170
The Arc of San Antonio
210-490-4300
Autism Treatment Center of San Antonio
210-590-2107
Down Syndrome Association of South Texas
210-394-4372
Alamo Area Council of Governments
(210) 362-5200
Intellectual & Developmental Disability Services
210-832-5020
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