Long Island Attorney Caught In Rockland Sexting Sting Pleads Guilty

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — An attorney from Long Island caught in 2023 in a sexting sting set up by the Rockland County District Attorney's Office has pleaded guilty, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II announced Friday.

Waxman, 56 of Cedarhurst, New York pleaded guilty Thursday to first degree attempted disseminating indecent material to minors.

Waxman was arrested 10 months ago. Prosecutors said that from May 22-31, an undercover investigator from the DA’s Office posed as a minor and engaged in a series of text conversations with Waxman. The investigator told Waxman on multiple occasions that she was a 14-year-old girl, they said.

His texts to the undercover investigator became increasingly more sexual, prosecutors said, culminating in him arranging to meet the person he thought was a 14-year-old to engage in sexual activities.

He arrived in Rockland County on May 31 and was taken into custody by investigators from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office in coordination with the Town of Ramapo Police Department.

Waxman was a partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in Manhattan, which put him on indefinite leave in June 2023 after the arrest, according to the ABA Journal.

The case was investigated by the DA’s Office with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, Ramapo Police Department, and the Nassau County Police Department.

"With today’s guilty plea, the defendant is taking responsibility for his actions in attempting to meet a minor for unlawful reasons," Walsh said. "The Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit 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 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.

Waxman is scheduled for sentencing before the Honorable Kevin J. Russo on July 2.

According to the New York Court system:

"a person is guilty of Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree when, knowing the character and content of the communication which, in whole or in part, depicts or describes, either in words or images actual or simulated nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse, and which is harmful to minors, he or she intentionally uses any computer communication system allowing the input, output, examination or transfer, of computer data or computer programs from one computer to another, to initiate or engage in such communication with a person who is a minor, and by means of such communication he or she intentionally importunes, invites or induces a minor to engage in sexual intercourse, oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct, or sexual contact with him or her."

The case was prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Dugandzic.