A priest who had been on administrative leave from a western New York diocese since 2019 was charged July 8, 2026 with receiving and possessing child pornography, after a reopened federal investigation, raising fresh questions about what happens in the years between an internal suspension and public accountability.
Reviewed by Survivor Justice Alliance · Updated 2026-10-21
Timeline compiled from Western District of New York federal court filings and the western New York diocese public statements.
On July 8, 2026, federal prosecutors in the Western District of New York charged a priest connected to the western New York diocese with receipt and possession of child pornography. Court filings describe a search warrant executed at his residence that recovered several electronic devices, including a laptop, a tablet, and a USB storage device, on which investigators say they found folders containing videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of twenty years in federal prison. The priest made an initial court appearance the following day before a federal magistrate judge in western New York.
The priest had already been removed from active ministry in August 2019, after the diocese received allegations of inappropriate conduct toward children and of harassment directed at a seminarian. Around that same period, federal investigators identified an email address linked to him that had accessed an overseas file-storage site. That earlier digital investigation, though, was closed in 2023 without charges being filed.
The case was reopened in March of this year after investigators identified renewed activity tied to the same person on an online platform hosting child exploitation material. That reopened inquiry is what produced the search warrant and the charges filed in July.
The western New York diocese has said publicly that it was not aware of any law-enforcement contact regarding the renewed investigation and learned of the new allegations only once the criminal case became public. The diocese said it stands ready to assist investigators however needed, and noted the priest had remained on leave throughout.
That statement highlights a structural reality survivors and advocates have pushed dioceses to address nationally: an internal administrative leave removes a suspected offender from public duty, but it does not automatically trigger a criminal referral, a published accusation, or a resolution for anyone potentially harmed. Some dioceses, including several now working through bankruptcy settlements, have separately agreed to maintain public lists of credibly accused clergy specifically to close that gap. Whether an internal leave alone satisfies that responsibility remains an open question this case puts back in front of the public.
New York's Child Victims Act and Adult Survivors Act already opened extended filing windows that let survivors of decades-old clergy abuse bring civil claims against the priest and against the diocese directly, on theories of negligent hiring, retention, and supervision. The western New York diocese itself has been working through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process covering more than 850 survivors from earlier decades, a process nearing its final stages.
A new criminal case does not automatically create a new class of civil claimants, since possession of child pornography and hands-on abuse are legally distinct harms. But any survivor who believes the same individual harmed them directly, at any point, still has independent civil avenues to pursue, separate from and unaffected by the outcome of this federal criminal case.
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When an institution places someone on leave rather than removing them entirely, survivors and the public are owed clarity on a specific set of points.
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Federal receipt and possession of child pornography, carrying a mandatory minimum of five years and up to twenty years in prison if convicted.
The diocese has said it was not contacted by investigators and learned of the new allegations only after charges were filed.
It is a separate federal criminal matter, though it involves the same diocese that has spent years working through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy covering more than 850 abuse survivors from earlier decades.
Generally yes, depending on when the alleged harm occurred and which New York filing window applies, and independent of how this federal criminal case resolves.