BUFFALO, New York (LifeSiteNews) ― A priest whom LifeSiteNews warned about in 2019 because of his sexual harassment of a seminarian has now been charged with possession of child pornography. 

U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced on Wednesday that Fr. Jeffrey Nowak, 46, of Lackawanna, New York, was “arrested and charged by criminal complaint with receipt and possession of child pornography, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years.”

Fr. Nowak has been on administrative leave from the Diocese of Buffalo since 2019. The diocese did not respond to LifeSite’s request for comment.

In August 2019, as news was breaking of rampant sexual misconduct and cover-up in the Diocese of Buffalo which ultimately led to the resignation of Bishop Richard J. Malone, LifeSiteNews reported on Nowak’s alleged emotional harassment and blackmailing of seminarian Matthew Bojanowski, who went public with his accusations.   

According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo, Bojanowski’s allegations were likely just the tip of the iceberg:

In December 2019, an email address linked to Nowak, grotesquely calling himself “[email protected]”, was identified as an address that accessed a New Zealand cloud-based digital storage and file-hosting website/application, which contained photos and videos files of sexually exploited children. In May 2021, the FBI conducted an investigation, executing a search warrant for the email address [email protected], however, no child pornography was found, and the investigation was closed in July 2023.

In late 2025, the FBI Criminal Division’s Violent Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Section, Child Exploitation Operational Unit (CEOU), received a referral from law enforcement located in Scotland related to a Telegram group whose members participated in group Zoom calls during which members were observed viewing and sharing child pornography. Investigators linked one of the participants to the username PigBoy666, which was later identified as Nowak. As a result, the investigation into Nowak was re-opened by FBI Buffalo in March of this year.

On Wednesday, the statement continued, “a search warrant was executed at Nowak’s residence, during which investigators seized multiple electronic devices, including a cell phone, laptop, iPad, a USB storage device, and suspected narcotics.”

“An initial review of the electronics, including the USB storage device, recovered several folders containing videos of child pornography.”

“Defendants like Jeffrey Nowak go to great lengths, and in this case great distances, to hide their criminal behavior,” stated U.S. Attorney DiGiacomo. “Once in a position of trust, Nowak hid behind a keyboard and took part in the tragic exploitation of one of society’s most vulnerable populations, our children. Nowak has now been exposed and can no longer hide and will be held accountable for his disgraceful behavior.”

Nowak is scheduled to appear in court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer today.

This is a developing story…

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