A local priest has appeared in federal court on child pornography charges.
46-year-old Jeffrey Nowak was arrested Wednesday after an investigation involving federal agents and Scottish law enforcement.
Scottish investigators contacted the FBI about Nowak’s possible involvement in a child pornography group on the Telegram messaging app, said Michael DiGiacomo, U.S. Attorney for the Western New York District.
“This Telegram group that we believe Mr. Nowak was involved with, it's not a group that would be available to everybody out in the general public," he said. "This is a group, it's a, it's a very specific, invited group of like-minded individuals.”
Law enforcement seized several electronics, including a USB drive in a Bible case, when searching the residence of Nowak’s father, where he was located. Nowak is suspected of looking at exploitative materials when law enforcement arrived at the residence in Lackawanna, DiGiacomo said.
“The arrest happened as a result of the search of that residence. When agents made entry, they encountered Mr. Nowak," he said. "They take normal steps, they secure the scene to make sure it's safe for the agents and the officers that are involved. And then, they conducted their search and recovered a various amount of electronics.”
Father Ryszard Biernat, an inactive priest, says the potential crimes need to be uncovered, but even he is surprised by how alarming the charges are.
“It's like he seems to be lost, doesn't know how to function when he's exposed," he said. "That's important to know about the pedophiles, like if they're not challenged, they're not exposed publicly, they'll continue to engage, you know, hide behind (the) collar.”
Biernat served as priest secretary to Bishop Richard Malone when the latter led the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, but was fired around 2019 after secretly recording several meetings with Malone and releasing details to the news media.
Nowak has been on administrative leave since August 2019, after allegations of inappropriate contact with children and harassing a member of the seminary. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, he was investigated in 2021 for possible child pornography charges involving a website hosted out of New Zealand. No child pornography was found relating to the suspected email address, and that case was closed in 2023.
Nowak’s defense attorney will announce in court Monday whether they will pursue a preliminary hearing.
The charges for receiving and possessing child pornography each carry maximum sentences of 20 years, though there’s a chance they would be served concurrently, DiGiacomo said.
