Eight adults were arrested after New York State Police ran a sting designed to catch adults trying to sexually abuse children younger than 15. Investigators worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to build these cases and stop real harm before it happened. All eight, including Rabbi Peter Schaktman of Temple Emanu-El in Utica, now face charges of attempted rape.

Cases like this cannot quietly end in a plea deal that turns "attempted rape" into a minor offense with barely any punishment. When charges against people accused of targeting children get pled down to something small, it tells every predator that a good lawyer is all it takes to avoid real accountability.

The Onondaga County District Attorney has the power to prosecute every one of these eight cases to the fullest extent the law allows, and to reject any plea deal that lets these charges disappear into a lesser offense. Full accountability here matters beyond this one case: it tells every institution, congregation, and community that no title, job, or position protects anyone who tries to harm a child.

Children deserve to know that when police build a case this serious, prosecutors finish the job instead of quietly settling it. Sign the petition to demand the Onondaga County District Attorney pursue full charges and reject reduced pleas for all eight men in this case, before another child is put at risk.