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BUFFALO, New York (LifeSiteNews) ― Prosecutors offered disturbing new insight during a court hearing Monday into what police found in the home of Father Jeffrey Nowak, a priest who was charged with possession of child pornography last week, and his alleged confessions at the crime scene.
As first reported by investigative journalist Charlie Specht, who attended the July 13 hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Mango described how, after forcing their way into Nowak’s home while executing a search warrant, federal agents found the priest, whom LifeSiteNews warned about in 2019 because of his sexual harassment of a seminarian, completely naked.
Nowak, who has been on administrative leave from the Diocese of Buffalo since 2019 but reportedly remains on the payroll, allegedly admitted to being high on crystal methamphetamine and viewing child pornography that morning. The priest also allegedly confessed to regularly viewing child sexual abuse images to “escape from the stress in my life,” being attracted to boys between ages eight and 10 years old and frequently requesting pornographic content of “kids being punished.”
Upon searching the upstairs of Nowak’s residence, agents described finding a “totally filthy disgusting den” where Nowak allegedly masturbated to images of young children. They also found pieces of crystal meth stored in a chalice that also sacrilegiously contained Communion hosts as well as a green screen and other drug paraphernalia.
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While searching the priest’s phone, agents also found that he had allegedly shared images of several family members, including some young enough to be in diapers. When sharing an image of a teenage family member, he allegedly said they needed “to be kidnapped, drugged, brainwashed and reprogrammed to be one of us.” He also allegedly expressed violent acts he wanted to commit against a sibling.
In addition to the sexually explicit content, the agents found several other disturbing messages on the priest’s phone.
“I love being a misogynistic, racist, meth-fueled, satanic s– pig,” he wrote in one message.
Nowak also sent someone the manifesto of Buffalo mass shooter Payton Gendron, adding, “Hate, evil, violence. I continue to embrace it more and more.”
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, on July 8, U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced that Nowak, 46, of Lackawanna, New York, was “arrested and charged by criminal complaint with receipt and possession of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years.”
READ: Priest LifeSite warned about years ago arrested on child pornography charges
“Defendants like Jeffrey Nowak go to great lengths, and in this case great distances, to hide their criminal behavior,” DiGiacomo said last week after Nowak’s arrest. “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 has now been exposed and can no longer hide and will be held accountable for his disgraceful behavior.”
In August 2019, as news was breaking of rampant sexual misconduct and cover-up in the Diocese of Buffalo that ultimately led to the resignation of Bishop Richard J. Malone, LifeSite reported on Nowak’s alleged emotional harassment and blackmailing of seminarian Matthew Bojanowski, who went public with his accusations.
This story is developing …