Crime

Former Whitman dean Kenneth Kavajecz reportedly agreed to pay undercover police officer $80 for sex

Jessica Sheldon | Photo Editor

Kavajecz was removed from his position as dean after he was charged with patronizing a prostitute in the third degree.

Former Whitman dean Kenneth Kavajecz’s misdemeanor of patronizing a prostitute occurred in March, when he allegedly agreed to pay an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute for sex, according to Syracuse.com.

Kavajecz, 51, then-dean of Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management, allegedly agreed to pay $80 for sex to the undercover officer around 8 p.m. on March 9 at the Candlewood Suites on South Bay Road, according to arrest reports cited by Syracuse.com.

Kavajecz was charged Sept. 13 and soon thereafter was removed from his position as dean. He was also placed on leave from his faculty position. He will appear in Salina Town Court on Sept. 29.

His arrest was part of a larger prostitution sting, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s office announced Wednesday, according to Syracuse.com.

Including Kavajecz, eight people are facing charges as part of the sting carried about by the sheriff’s office and the New York State Police, according to Syracuse.com. They were each charged with patronizing a prostitute in the third degree.



Four phone calls to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s office went unreturned Wednesday evening.

The sting operation took place over several months. Here are each of the people facing charges in addition to Kavajecz, according to Syracuse.com:

  • Tyler Frisbie, 31, of Cortland
  • Daniel Gildea, 33, of Watertown
  • Clifford Gladle, 41 of Syracuse
  • Dylan Johnson, 24, of North Syracuse
  • David Poorman, 55, of Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Michael Washo, 46, of Cicero
  • Jeffrey Wood, 51, of Cicero

All seven people listed above were charged Sept. 19, according to Syracuse.com.





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