LACKAWANNA (NY)
WHAM-TV, Ch. 13 [Rochester NY]
July 8, 2026
By WHAM
A priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo was arrested Wednesday and charged with receiving and possessing child pornography, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
Jeffrey Nowak, 46, of Lackawanna, was placed on administrative leave in 2019 while the diocese investigated allegations of inappropriate contact with children and harassment of a seminarian, prosecutors said. An email address linked to Nowak was identified later that year as having accessed a New Zealand-based cloud storage platform that contained images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children.
The FBI investigated the email account in 2021 after obtaining a search warrant, but prosecutors said no child pornography was found at that time. The investigation was closed in July 2023.
Prosecutors said the case was reopened in March 2026 after the FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit received a referral from law enforcement in Scotland involving a Telegram group where members participated in Zoom calls during which child pornography was allegedly viewed and shared.
Investigators linked one participant with the username “PigBoy666” to Nowak, prosecutors said.
Authorities executed a search warrant Wednesday at Nowak’s home and seized multiple electronic devices, including a cellphone, laptop, iPad and USB storage device, as well as suspected narcotics, according to prosecutors. An initial review of the devices uncovered multiple 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,” U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo said in a statement. “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 is set to appear in federal court Thursday, prosecutors said. If convicted of the charges against him, he faces between 5 and 20 years in prison.