LONG ISLAND MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FELONY IN CONNECTION WITH ONLINE PREDATOR STING
Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II announced today that Daniel Waxman, 56 of Cedarhurst, New York pleaded guilty to Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree (PL 110.00/235.22) before the Honorable Kevin J. Russo on April 4, 2024.
From May 22, 2023, to May 31, 2023, an undercover investigator from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office posing as a minor engaged in a series of internet chat conversations with the defendant. The undercover investigator advised the defendant on multiple occasions that she was a fourteen-year-old girl. Despite this, the defendant’s messages to the undercover investigator became increasingly more sexual, culminating in the defendant arranging to meet the minor to engage in sexual conduct. Ultimately, on May 31, 2023, investigators from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office in coordination with the Town of Ramapo Police Department placed the defendant into custody after he arrived in Rockland County to meet with whom he believed was a fourteen-year-old girl.
District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II said, “With today’s guilty plea, the defendant is taking responsibility for his actions in attempting to meet a minor for unlawful reasons. The Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit (SVU) works on a daily basis on behalf of our most vulnerable victims and to hold criminals accountable, while being sensitive to the unique needs and dynamics associated with these types of challenging cases. The Rockland DA SVU is headed by a highly experienced prosecutor with specialized knowledge and training necessary to handle cases involving victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking.
I commend the thorough investigation by the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit with assistance from our partners in law enforcement and prosecution by lead counsel Executive ADA Dugandzic. My office is committed to holding individuals responsible for these types of predatory behaviors that target innocent minors to ensure children in our community are safe.”
The Rockland County District Attorney’s Office has been a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force since 2020. ICAC Task Force is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces, representing over 5,400 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The mission of the ICAC Task force is to identify individuals who are attempting to lure children to meet for sex or those disseminating child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).
The case was investigated by the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, Ramapo Police Department, and the Nassau County Police Department. The defendant is scheduled for sentencing before the Honorable Kevin J. Russo on July 2, 2024.
The case was prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Dugandzic.
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