Onondaga County sheriff says child sex crime suspect may have more victims
Investigators say Donald J. Bender Jr. may have more victims, and they point to his work with the Mattydale Fire Department and Junior Program as a key access point.
Investigators arrested Donald J. Bender Jr. of Mattydale, and the case may involve more victims, after a probe that began in January 2026 and centered on allegations from a late-winter 2017 encounter with a 16-year-old male. Sheriff’s investigators believe additional encounters may have happened earlier, and Bender’s volunteer role with the Mattydale Fire Department and his transportation of juvenile males in the Junior Program gave him access to young people who could have been affected. Anyone with information is being asked to contact Detective Zachary Kogut with the Special Victims Unit.
The sheriff’s office also urged the public to check the sex offender registry for more information as the investigation continues.
Ryan Pontello of Clay was arrested June 9, 2025, after allegedly luring a 5-year-old girl with candy from a Bear Road playground in North Syracuse into a wooded area and sexually assaulting her. Pontello also faced charges tied to a separate 3-year-old victim from earlier that year in the same area.
By October 2025, Pontello had been linked to more victims and faced more than a dozen additional felony charges tied to alleged sex acts on children in 2022. Evidence suggested he tried to obtain nude photos of other children in that age range. The offenses stretched from 2022 to 2025 and involved six child victims, with Pontello ultimately indicted on 48 counts.
In June, Sheriff Toby Shelley wrote to Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders, arguing that the current system can leave families without critical information when someone with a prior sex offense is living, working or volunteering around children in Onondaga County.
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