On March 3, 2023, the Wheatland-Chili Central School District notified the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office of a substitute teacher who may have inappropriately touched elementary students. MCSO immediately initiated an investigation into the allegations. Three elementary students reported incidents of inappropriate touching, outside of clothing, by substitute teacher Robert Petit. The allegations occurred on four separate occasions during the school day. A Sheriff’s investigator took over the case and worked with the Bivona Child Advocacy Center to facilitate interviews with the victims and their families. The investigator also conducted research and interviews with staff members, as well as Petit’s former employers, to look for potential additional victims. No new victims were identified. On March 17, 2023, after two weeks of extensive investigation, interviews, and working in collaboration with the Monroe County District Attorney’s office, the case was submitted to the DA for presentation to a Grand Jury.
On May 22, 2024, at about noon, MCSO was notified of the sealed indictment warrant and just before 6:00 that evening, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Unit arrested Petit.
Robert W. Petit, 40, of Chili is charged with:
- Sexual Abuse in the First Degree (Class D-Felony – 11 counts)
- Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Class A-Misdemeanor – 6 counts)
Petit was arraigned in NYS Supreme Court and remanded to the Monroe County Jail on $500,000 cash.
We strongly encourage anyone with further details pertaining to Robert Petit to call 911.
Legally, Grand Jury proceedings are secret and that prevents us from disclosing details of criminal investigations pending in the Grand Jury. The sheriff acknowledges that the delay of over twelve months in this process of notifying the public is unacceptable. We have created a tracking mechanism so that we can follow through with our public safety partners so that an announcement can be made as soon as legally possible.