HOMER (NY)
Syracuse.com [Syracuse NY]
August 20, 2026
By Anne Hayes
A 39-year-old man, who previously worked in the Syracuse Catholic Diocese and was convicted of inappropriately messaging an underage girl, has officially left the priesthood.
Nathan W. Brooks, 39, was accused in 2024 of grooming, touching and messaging an underage girl since she was 14 years old. The incidents happened between 2019 and 2021, authorities said.
At the time, Brooks was a priest in the Syracuse Catholic Diocese and working as an administrator at the Church of the Nativity at St. Joseph in LaFayette, Immaculate Conception in Pompey, St. Leo in Tully and St. Patrick Mission in Otisco.
When the allegations came out, he was placed on administrative leave and removed him from all public priestly duties pending the outcomes of the criminal and internal investigations.
In a news release Thursday, the Syracuse Diocese announced Brooks is no longer a priest.
“After further investigation, the Diocesan Review Board advised [Bishop Douglas J. Lucia] that the allegations were credible and substantiated,” the statement said.
After the internal investigation was complete, Brooks ultimately decided to petition the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine for the Faith to be removed from the clergy, according to the diocese.
Danielle Cummings, a spokesperson for the diocese, said he was “laicized” and he can’t have a position in the church.
His removal went into effect on Aug. 7, the statement said.
Brooks pleaded guilty to one count of endangering the welfare of a child on Dec. 17, 2024.
He admitted to inappropriately messaging the victim throughout 2020 and 2021, according to a news release from the Cortland County District Attorney’s Office.
He was sentenced to probation.
He was arrested in September 2023 and accused of touching a young girl between 2019 and 2021 as well as texting the teen “flirty” messages, according to court documents filed in Homer Town Court.
He was also charged in Cortland City Court. He was accused of having inappropriate contact with a minor on a bus for a church-sponsored trip.
Ultimately, the Cortland County district attorney could not prosecute those charges because the trip originated in Onondaga County. The forcible touching charges were dropped as a result.
The charges were filed after the victim, who had turned 18, came forward to police with concerns that Brooks may be inappropriately interacting with other young girls, according to a deposition the girl gave to the Cortland County Sheriff’s Office.
At the time, The DA’s office said that the diocese disclosed the allegations late, failed to confirm the submission of the reported incident to law enforcement and minimized the conduct of the offender.
The diocese said in a statement they received the report on June 28, 2023 and submitted a letter containing the complaint to the police on July 1, 2023.
In its statement Thursday, the Diocese said it is “fully committed to protecting the young and vulnerable.”
Anne Hayes joined Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard in June 2021 as a crime and public safety reporter. She covers topics including law, crime, politics and occasional human interest stories. She has covered the high-profile Robert Neulander trial and the 2023 Onondaga County Sheriff election and the closure of the Jamesville Correctional Facility. She graduated with an Online and Newspaper Journalism degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications. She also received a degree in Political Science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Feel free to contact her with tips at (315)313-2878.