New York rabbi nabbed in underage sex sting — and brought disgusting item to hotel, cops say
A rabbi was caught along with seven other men allegedly trying to arrange for underage sex, and he was caught with a damning item.
The sting operation was conducted by the New York State Police in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation between Aug. 27 and 28 in Onondaga County.
The men allegedly arranged to have sex through text messages and believed they were doing so with a teenager.
The eight men were charged with attempted rape in the second degree, according to a state police release.
Court documents indicated that an undercover officer pretended to be a 14 or 15 year old during the operation. The men allegedly arranged to have sex through messaging apps and believed they were doing so with a teenager.
All of the men separately arranged to have sex at hotels or at hotel parking lots in Syracuse, Liverpool, or Salina.
"Each one of these individuals came in contact with law enforcement during their search for an actual child," said Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Woodfork for Onondaga County.
Police said Rabbi Peter Schaktman was arrested for trying to arrange sex with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy. He allegedly had sex lubricant in his possession at the time.
Schaktman and the following four men were arrested on Aug. 27:
- Jarod M. Groah, age 42, from Frankfort, NY
- William D. Sheehan, age 53, from Syracuse, NY
- John L. Dejesus, age 34, from Syracuse, NY
- Xiaoqing Qi, age 37, from Syracuse, NY
These three men were arrested on Aug. 28:
- Marvin D. Knapp, age 44, from Syracuse, NY
- William D. Whitfield, age 41, from Seneca Falls, NY
- Kevin M. Lapoint, age 65, from Cicero, NY
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Temple Emanu-El, a Jewish temple in Utica, released a statement saying the rabbi was suspended over the heinous allegations and they were cooperating completely with law enforcement.
"Temple Emanu-El is shocked and deeply troubled by the serious criminal charges involving Rabbi Peter Schaktman," the temple said. "We recognize the sadness, confusion, anger, and many unanswered questions this news may create for members of our congregation and the broader community. Our thoughts are with all those who may have experienced harm and with their loved ones."
The eight men were arrested in separate cases unrelated to each other.
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‘Take them at their word’: Islam infiltrating public schools with MOSQUE trips for kids
America’s public schools are increasingly opening their doors to Islamic indoctrination, and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is sounding the alarm.
"Islam has come to conquer," she says.
“There is a big shift happening lately where they seem to be targeting children now. Now, even here in the state of Texas,” she continues, pointing out that in Texas a high school was handing out Qurans and candy to children.
“But now, they’re actively shuttling children to mosques to indoctrinate them. Now, thankfully, this was not in Texas. It was in California,” she explains, reading a headline from the New York Post.
“California high school students were given Qurans and encouraged to wear hijabs during class trip to mosque,” the headline reads.
“Now, these kids were taken to the mosque. They were taught that Islam in particular promotes social justice. I wonder if that extends to women ... does that extend to women who get publicly lashed if they don’t wear their hijab properly?” Gonzales asks.
“Something tells me no. How about, does that extend to homosexuals?” she asks again. “Cause I don’t know. To me, the idea of promoting social justice doesn’t mean throwing someone off a rooftop. But maybe that’s just me.”
Female students were encouraged to wear hijabs, and some of the students in attendance were Jewish.
“The parents are now suing the school and the district. This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who’s been paying attention. I’m like shouting from the rooftops about it because there is going to come a point where we’ve reached the breaking point and you can’t put the genie back in the bottle,” Gonzales says.
“We need to take them at their word. They have been preaching about their plans to take over,” she adds.
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Democratic Party has become so crazed, far-left AG Dana Nessel is avoiding convention over safety fears
Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party has gotten so bad, she is refusing to attend the national convention out of fears for her personal safety.
Nessel, who is Jewish, said she's already faced anti-Semitic harassment and expects it to be far worse at the convention in August.
'People aren't interested in the fact that, you know, that I'm gay. They're not interested in the fact that I'm a woman. They are very interested in the fact that I'm Jewish.'
"I feel like my presence isn't going to be welcome. I don't want to get chased around. I don't want to get harassed," Nessel said at an anti-Semitism forum on Thursday.
"I don't want to get yelled and screamed at. I don't want to get booed off the stage, irrespective of what I'm saying," she added.
She went on to criticize the Democratic Party of Michigan for looking the other way regarding threats she's received.
"The threats that I receive are almost exclusively anti-Semitic threats," Nessel continued. "People aren't interested in the fact that, you know, that I'm gay. They're not interested in the fact that I'm a woman. They are very interested in the fact that I'm Jewish."
Nessel had been forced to drop felony charges against some students arrested at a pro-Palestine UM student encampment in 2024. She blamed the "circus-like" atmosphere surrounding the case that included accusations of bias against her.
"It's just been getting worse and worse. And worse," she added. "And I have profound fears about what is going to happen to this state and what is going to happen to this country if we don't have a significant change of course in what's going on and we don't do a better job of educating people about it and we don't do a better job of holding people accountable."
A handful of Democrats have been sounding the alarm about extremist politicians winning primary elections against more establishment candidates. Some Democrats are threatening to leave the party if it continues to veer into extremism related to anti-Semitism as well as communist economic policies.
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Derrick Honeyman, the spokesperson for the Michigan Democratic Party, said they were focused on "ensuring party-hosted events are safe and secure environments" for the attendees of the convention.
"We reject anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hateful conduct," he added. "We are working diligently with stakeholders, elected officials, and party membership to prepare for our August convention and look forward to welcoming Michigan Democrats to the Lansing Center on August 29."
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