Cedarhurst lawyer Daniel Waxman pleads guilty in online predator sting, DA says

A Cedarhurst attorney accused of traveling to upstate Ramapo for a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to a felony that will require him to register as a sex offender, the Rockland County district attorney’s office announced.

Daniel Waxman, 56, entered a guilty plea to first-degree attempted disseminating indecent material to minors before Rockland County Court Judge Kevin Russo Thursday, prosecutors said in a news release. Waxman was arrested last May 31 after being greeted by investigators working on an undercover online predator sting, Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh said.

“With [his] guilty plea, the defendant is taking responsibility for his actions in attempting to meet a minor for unlawful reasons,” Walsh said in a statement.

Waxman was accused of engaging in a series of internet chat conversations with a Rockland County district attorney’s office investigator posing as a 14-year-old girl between May 22 and May 31, 2023, prosecutors said. While the undercover investigator informed Waxman that she was “a 14-year-old girl” on multiple occasions, the chats became “increasingly more sexual,” the district attorney’s office said.

The Town of Ramapo Police placed Waxman into custody when he arrived in Rockland County to meet who he believed was the teen, according to the news release.

Waxman was suspended in June from a Manhattan law firm where he served as partner and head of a torts claim division, according to the New York Law Journal. A state courts database of attorneys shows his registration to practice law in New York expired in October.

The undercover sting was part of Rockland County’s participation in the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a nationwide effort involving 5,400 state, federal and local law enforcement agencies. The Nassau County Police Department and Homeland Security assisted in the investigation, prosecutors said.

Waxman is scheduled to be sentenced July 2. First-degree attempted disseminating indecent material to minors is a Class D felony carrying a maximum penalty of 7 years in prison and requiring sex offender registration under state law.

Attorney information for Waxman was not immediately available.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.