{"id":350428,"date":"2026-09-18T18:46:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T18:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/350428\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T18:46:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T18:46:43","slug":"new-york-santa-performer-arrested-following-online-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/350428\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Santa performer arrested following online investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man who has spent years portraying Santa Claus at a popular Upstate New York holiday attraction is facing felony charges<\/a> after police said he allegedly tried to arrange sexual encounters with minors through online communications. Authorities arrested Clarence V. \u201cRusty\u201d Russell, 75, on Sept. 5. <\/p>\n

According to police, Russell was charged with second-degree attempted rape<\/a> involving a person younger than 15 and attempted endangering the welfare of a child. The charges stem from an investigation in Ticonderoga, where officers said they reviewed allegations that Russell attempted to arrange contact with children online. <\/p>\n

Reports indicate the investigation<\/a> gained attention after videos posted on social media showed Russell being confronted by a man who said he posed online as a fictional parent offering access to children. Police have not publicly detailed all of the evidence gathered in the case, and the allegations remain subject to the criminal court process. <\/p>\n

Russell has worked for about a decade<\/a> as a Santa performer at Santa\u2019s Workshop, a longtime Christmas-themed attraction near Whiteface Mountain in New York\u2019s Adirondack region. The park first opened in 1949 and remains a popular family destination. <\/p>\n

The case drew additional attention<\/a> after Russell\u2019s daughter publicly accused him of past sexual abuse and urged potential victims to come forward. She told local media her allegations date back decades. Those claims are separate from the charges currently filed against Russell. <\/p>\n

Representatives of Santa\u2019s Workshop had not publicly confirmed<\/a> whether Russell remained employed there, according to reports published after his arrest. <\/p>\n

Court records cited by local media<\/a> show Russell was released on his own recognizance after his arrest. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 23 in Ticonderoga Town Court. As with all criminal cases, the charges against Russell are allegations. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man who has spent years portraying Santa Claus at a popular Upstate New York holiday attraction is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-350428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}