SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The eight men involved in the child-sex sting operation have been charged with attempted rape in the second degree. The New York State Police conducted this operation in collaboration with the FBI. There was a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Six of the eight men involved waived this case to a grand jury and remain in custody.
It’s important to note that the men arrested are not tied together. They are all charged separately.
Even though these are separate cases, each one of them used messaging apps to contact who they believed to be 14- or 15-year-old teenagers.
Those men are:
Jarod M. Groah, age 42, from Frankfort, NYWilliam D. Sheehan, age 53, from Syracuse, NYJohn L. Dejesus, age 34, from Syracuse, NYPeter B. Schaktman, age 66, from New Hartford, NYXiaoqing Qi, age 37, from Syracuse, NYMarvin D. Knapp, age 44, from Syracuse, NYWilliam D. Whitfield, age 41, from Seneca Falls, NYKevin M. Lapoint, age 65, from Cicero, NY
They were arrested on August 27 and 28.
Court documents revealed that in those texts between law enforcement posing as children and the eight men, the individuals were arranging to have sex with who they thought were teens. All of those intended locations to have some type of sexual intercourse were at local hotels or the hotels’ parking lots. The hotels included in the court documents are the Staybridge Suites Hotel in the Town of Salina, the Embassy Suites Hotel in the City of Syracuse and the Homewood Suites in Liverpool.
On the night of either August 27 or 28, those eight men arrived at one of those listed locations, with the intention of having sex with a teenager, according to the court documents. In some of these instances, money was offered, as much as $200. When they arrived, however, law enforcement was there instead.
Jarrett Woodfork, the Assistant District Attorney for Onondaga County, explained, “Each one of these individuals came in contact with law enforcement during their search for an actual child.”
According to Woodfork, this was law enforcement’s plan: to uncover suspects who are waiting to act on dark desires when it comes to children.
One of the men arrested, Peter Schaktman, was a Rabbi in Utica. When he was apprehended by law enforcement, he was found with sexual lubricant and was under the impression he would be meeting a 14-year-old boy for sex.
Schaktman’s Temple, Temple Emanu-El, suspended him.
Two of the men involved are not in custody. Lapoint and Knapp posted bail.