(Photo by Fabiana Ungaro)
ORLANDO | Richard Kowalczyk, owner of Southern Nights in Orlando and Tampa, and his partner, Eric Patrick, have been indicted on multiple counts involving child pornography.
The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury Dec. 18 and filed Jan. 2, charges Kowalczyk with conspiracy to entice a minor, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, two counts of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. Patrick is charged with conspiracy to entice a minor, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and distribution of child pornography.
“They both very clearly engaged in predatory deviant sexual behavior towards minors,” the indictment from the United States District Court Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, reads. “Their behavior went on for years, demonstrating their acts as intentional.”
According to the indictment, Kowalczyk was engaging in graphic exchanges on the messenger platform Telegram with an individual named in the indictment as “suspect under investigation.” In conversations occurring between April 16, 2022 and Aug. 15, 2022, Kowalczyk and the individual discussed past sexual encounters involving minors and exchanged images and videos featuring minors suspected to be as young as 7 years old.
The investigation led law enforcement to seize Kowalczyk’s iPhone on Feb. 8, 2023. The same day, a search warrant was executed at Kowalczyk’s Orlando residence where he resides with Patrick. Law enforcement seized electronic devices belonging to both Kowalczyk and Patrick.
According to the indictment, investigators found 83 images and two videos saved on Kowalczyk’s iPhone of child exploitation. Some of the images are of minors under 12 years of age. A further search of Kowalczyk’s electronic devices revealed messages sent from November 2019 to March 2021 between Kowalczyk and Patrick which included images and discussions of child exploitation.
In these conversations, Kowalczyk and Patrick discussed their intentions to engage in sexual acts with minors, mentioning how to look for “young” sexual partners on the app Grindr. Several of the discussions involved a trip Kowalczyk and Patrick were taking to Key West in June 2020 during which they planned to seek out minors to engage in sex with.
Conversations had a month later show Kowalczyk detailing a sexual encounter he had with an alleged teenager to Patrick and Patrick reveling to Kowalczyk that he found a teenager on Grindr who he brought to his hotel room to engage in sexual activities.
Kowalczyk is co-owner of the LGBTQ+ nightclub Southern Nights in Orlando and Tampa, as well as Orlando bars District Dive and Stiffy’s. According to the indictment, as of 2024, Patrick has worked as a teacher.
“The weight of the evidence against both Kowalczyk and Patrick is extremely strong,” the indictment reads. “Through social media conversations and investigative means, law enforcement discovered Kowalczyk and Patrick’s conversations conspiring to encourage minors to engage in sexual behavior and produce [child sexual abuse material], as well as distributing and receiving that [child sexual abuse material] to or from each other. Law enforcement discovered Kowalczyk and Patrick’s respective communications with Minor Victim 1 in furtherance of that conspiracy, which ultimately enticed Minor Victim 1 to send [child sexual abuse material] depicting themselves to Patrick and Kowalczyk.”
Watermark Out News reached out to Kowalczyk and Patrick’s attorney Fritz J. Scheller, who said in a statement, “Our clients have maintained their innocence and we will advocate zealously on their behalf.”
According to the arrest warrants, Kowalczyk and Patrick were taken into custody Jan. 2 and have since been released on bond. Their trials are expected to begin in March. If convicted, the charges are punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to Watermark Out News for updates.
