BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ-TV [Buffalo NY]
July 15, 2026
By Kim DeGeorge
Federal prosecutors say a Buffalo priest charged in a child pornography case also allegedly shared the Payton Gendron manifesto.
We’re hearing more details about a Western New York priest who remains in custody after appearing in federal court on child pornography charges.
Jeffrey Nowak, 46, a priest in the Diocese of Buffalo, was arrested and charged with receipt and possession of child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint, Nowak was placed on administrative leave in August 2019 following allegations of inappropriate contact with children and harassment of a seminarian. Investigators say an email address allegedly linked to Nowak was identified as an email address that accessed a New Zealand cloud-based digital storage and file-hosting site that had photos and videos files of sexually exploited children.
A spokesperson for the US Attorney office confirmed to 2 On Your Side that prosecutors said in court on Monday that Nowak allegedly shared the Payton Gendron manifesto with others online.
Gendron was convicted of state charges for killing 10 Black people in Buffalo on May 14, 2022.
The FBI released new photos last Friday from its raid of Jeffrey Nowak’s home in Lackawanna as authorities continued their investigation.
Federal investigators say the case linked Nowak to an online group accused of viewing and sharing images depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Nowak has been on administrative leave from the Diocese of Buffalo since 2019.