BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB [Buffalo NY]
July 13, 2026
By Aidan Joly, Daniel Telvock
Former Cheektowaga priest Jeffrey Nowak will be held in jail after he was arrested on child pornography charges last week, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Nowak was arrested last Wednesday after the FBI conducted a search at his Lackawanna home and found child pornography on a USB storage device as well as other electronics including a laptop, cell phone and iPad.
Nowak, who said mass at Our Lady Help of Christians in Cheektowaga, was placed on permanent leave by the Buffalo Diocese in 2019 amid allegations of inappropriate contact with children and sexually harassing a seminarian.
The judge ruled that Nowak would stay in jail due to the “nature and circumstances of the offense,” including “strong evidence against him,” which included an alleged confession to distributing child pornography and interviews where he allegedly made more confessions of guilt. The main reason, however, was Nowak’s alleged threats to offer up family members to other pedophiles.
U.S. Assistant Attorney Aaron Mango said in court that he spoke to an expert in the field and described the accusations as “some of the worst stuff she has ever seen in her life.”
Also revealed in court Monday was that Nowak allegedly shared the manifesto of racist Tops mass shooter Payton Gendron with at least one other person on the social media app Signal and used racist language in messages on the same app.
The FBI first opened up an investigation against the 46-year-old Nowak months after he was placed on leave after an email address linked to Nowak, “pigboybuffalo@gmail.com,” was found to have accessed a digital storage and file-hosting website in New Zealand, which allegedly contained photos and videos of child pornography. The case was closed in 2023 after nothing was found.
The case was re-opened in March after the FBI received a referral from authorities in Scotland about a Telegram group whose members hosted Zoom calls where child pornography was shared. One of the users, “pigboy666,” was linked to Nowak.
Nowak was charged with receipt and possession of child pornography. If convicted he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Aidan Joly was named News 4’s Digital Executive Producer in 2025. He has been on staff since 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.
Dan Telvock is an award-winning investigative producer and reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2018. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.