Did Legislator Christopher Johnson and others attempt to sweep Singh’s actions under the rug as accused?
So, they are so many questions here, but let me start at the beginning. So, there is an organization named OBL Global whose goal it is to Obliterating Predators Globally & Educating Viewers on the dangers that loom our world. They apparently caught a Westchester Board of Legislator staff soliciting sex from who he thought was a 14-year-old girl in New Jersey. He was caught when he drove 2 1/2 hours to NJ to get with who he thought was an underage teen in December and it was allegedly brought to the attention to the BOL leadership, and nothing was done. Now a YouTube video was made public by OBL, Wednesday, April 12th.
On Monday, April 17th, The Yonkers Ledger reported that “Westchester Board of Legislators (BOL) staffer Anand Singh was captured in a “to catch a predator” style Youtube video soliciting sex from a suspected underage girl in December 2022. While the video of this full operation did not become public until April 13th, members on the BOL knew about Singh’s alleged sex crimes for months and appear to have taken no action.”
A quick google search shows that Singh works for the BOL’s Legislative Director who works for the BOL as a body and Chairwoman Catherine Borgia and Majority Leader Christopher Johnson. OBL Global released a 30-minute YouTube video dated April 12, 2023 (you can watch below in its entirety) that thoroughly discusses their sting operation in detail that led to the face-to-face encounter. But the question is when exactly did they know, and why to date, has Singh not been charged with a crime?”
The article goes on to say, “The group, OBL Global, lures potential child predators using fake dating app profiles. Late last year, their team spent over a week ensnaring former Yonkers City Council staffer and then-current BOL staffer Anand Singh via hundreds of text messages and voice calls. In mid-December, Singh traveled across state lines into New Jersey to meet who he expected to be a 14 year-old girl. Instead, OBL Global confronted Singh while live-streaming the interaction. Singh then absconded the scene before authorities arrived. On April 13th, OBL Global released a 30-minute Youtube video summarizing their sting operation that culminated in that face-to-face encounter.”
Ok so again when did the BOL become aware of this and why haven’t any charges been filed?
Yonkers City Councilmember Shanae Williams – who is challenging Johnson for County Legislator – is among those suggesting that members of the board knew of Anand Singh’s transgressions months prior. She has called for an investigation into who, if anyone, knew about Singh’s behavior. Councilwoman Williams accused Johnson of “concealment of staffer accused of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old minor,” in a press release you can read below.
The Yonkers Ledger stated in the article that they spoke to members of OBL Global on whether or not they had any interactions with members of the Westchester County Board of Legislators prior to the YouTube video being released in April.
As early as December, some on the board were aware of Singh’s actions. An initial email dated December 28th, 2022, was sent by an OBL member to the legislator from the 1st district, Colin Smith. Smith then replied on Dec. 31st acknowledging receipt of the information about Singh. Legislator Smith went on to write in the email response that he was “quite alarmed by it’s content.” Speaking with Smith directly today, he informed us that he is not an investigator, nor does he have any managerial remit over the staff. So, he immediately brought this information to “leadership,” meaning BOL Chair Catherine Borgia, and the Department of Public Safety.
Councilwoman Williams makes accusations in her statement that Majority Leader Christopher Johnson knew before the video came out and chose to sweep it under the rug and let Singh keep working.
“It’s disturbing to know that Majority Leader Johnson allowed this staffer who engaged in horrific conduct to continue working as a legislative staffer in his office. It’s even more disturbing that Majority Leader Johnson who is also someone who works with minors in our public schools, chose to sweep this under the rug. If we cannot trust that he will do the right thing as Majority Leader and hold his staff accountable, how can anyone in the community trust his leadership in our government? Sexual predators that target our children have no place in our community and that should be the message, no exceptions!”
We reached out to Legislator Johnson – who is also an educator, a Yonkers resident, and a father, I’m committed to protecting children from the clutches of predators – and wanted to set the record straight on Councilwoman Williams accusation.
“I became aware of these allegations only 30 minutes before the staffer in question was terminated from employment. However, Councilmember Williams was silent when a City of Yonkers employee, and her friend, appointed by her political patron Mayor Spano — the same person who appointed her to the council seat she currently occupies — was arrested for drunk driving the wrong way on a major roadway. This blatant hypocrisy and misstatement of facts, in addition to politicizing an internal staffing issue that has already been resolved, is a clear violation of the public trust that demonstrates her unfitness for political office. The last thing the people of Yonkers need is elected officials more concerned about personal aggrandizement than the safety and well-being of its residents, particularly our children. Since discovering this incident last Thursday, I have been in discussions with my colleagues about addressing any lapses that may have occurred, including any appropriate measures that need to be taken at the Board,” Johnson shared with Black Westchester.
Did Johnson know as Williams claims or did Johnson became aware of the allegations against Singh when he claims. Either way there are many contrasts. According to the article, In February, the OBL member who acts as the decoy 14-year-old girl, also communicated with the Board of Legislators. A phone call from an unlisted number followed her initial email on Feb. 18th. The decoy said her conversation with the unknown BOL staffer lasted just a moment. And that Detective James Rosselli in the General Investigations Unit of the Westchester Department of Public Safety said the case was only brought to him, Sunday, April 16th.
Dan Murphy of the Yonkers Times wrote an article that also conflicts with Johnson’s statement; According to Ramy, he posted the video of Singh sometime in mid-December, but then took it down after the livestream. Many people watching the livestream recognized Singh and started notifying officials in Westchester four months ago.
The Yonkers Ledger article goes on to say; However, it appears that for more than three months, members of the board were aware that Singh was accused of being a child sex predator. Undoubtedly, termination from his position in government only came after the public release of the video evidence. This leaves many to believe that if not for Youtube, Singh would still have his tax-payer funded job helping to craft legislation for Westchester County.
So that leads one to ask, if the BOL knew for months why Singh continued to be employed by the BOL until after the video was made public? Also why wasn’t the Westchester County Department of Public Safety informed until after the video was made public? Was the County Executive office aware of Singh’s pedophilia actions and if not, why weren’t they informed by the BOL, if they did in fact know, months before the video surfaced as suggested? Since the incident occurred in Newark and the Newark Police Department responded to the 911 call, even if they arrived after Singh had left, why were no charges have yet to be filed by the Newark PD? Who else in county government knew about this before the video surfaced and when were they aware of it? Did Westchester County Board of Legislators Chair Catherine Borgia have prior knowledge of Anand Singh’s behavior?
Johnson accused Williams of playing dirty tricks. Williams is calling for an investigation into who, if anyone, knew about Singh’s behavior. Even if you want to chalk Williams and Johnson’s statement to the silly season of the election, there are so many questions that need to be answered and we will be sending this to the entire BOL, CE office, DA’s office, the Westchester County of Public Safety and anyone else we can believe can shed more light on what exactly is going on!
We also reached out to the Westchester District Attorney’s office and expect a statement of some sort as early as Tuesday.
Stay tuned to Black Westchester for more on this developing story!
