By Katie Daviscourt – The Postmillennial
An owner of a popular LGBTQ drag nightclub in central Florida has been arrested on several federal child sex crime charges. Richard Kowalczyk, 44, of Orlando, and his romantic partner, Eric Patrick, 31, a teacher, are accused of “extremely serious” crimes against children, such as coercing minors to engage in sexual activity and distributing and possessing child pornography, according to federal court filings.
Kowalczyk, the now-former owner of Southern Nights in Tampa and Orlando, is alleged to have discussed past sexual encounters involving minors with an individual named in the indictment as “suspect under investigation.” The pair allegedly exchanged sexually explicit images and videos featuring minors as young as 7 years old. These conversations occurred between April 16, 2022, and August 15, 2022, on the messaging app Telegram, according to the indictment filed on January 2 by the United States District Court Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division.
On February 8, 2023, law enforcement confiscated Kowalczyk’s iPhone as a result of the investigation. On the same day, a search warrant was executed at Kowalczyk’s Orlando residence, where he resides with Patrick. Both Kowalczyk and Patrick’s electronic devices were seized by law enforcement, per court documents.
“They both very clearly engaged in predatory deviant sexual behavior towards minors. Their behavior went on for years, demonstrating their acts as intentional,” the indictment reads.
Investigators found 83 images and two videos of child exploitation on Kowalczyk’s iPhone, as stated in the indictment. A portion of the images depict minors under the age of 12. Kowalczyk and Patrick exchanged messages from November 2019 to March 2021, which contained child pornographic images and discussions of child exploitation.
The couple engaged in discussions regarding their intentions to engage in sexual activities with juveniles, including the process of how to locate “young” sexual partners on the Grindr app. Kowalczyk and Patrick were planning to search for minors to engage in sexual activity with during their June 2020 vacation to Key West, Florida, according to the indictment.
A month later, Kowalczyk recounted a sexual encounter he had with an alleged minor to Patrick, and Patrick informed Kowalczyk that he had discovered a teenager on Grindr who he had brought to his hotel room to engage in sexual activities.
According to the criminal filing, Kowalczyk admitted in an interview to receiving child pornography.
Kowalczyk is facing charges of conspiracy to entice a minor, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. Patrick has been charged with conspiracy to entice a minor, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, and distribution of child pornography. The couple was indicted on December 18 by a federal grand jury, court records show.
“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.
Southern Nights posted a statement on Facebook regarding the allegations, stating, “Our businesses have no involvement in these allegations. While he maintains his innocence, Richard Kowalczyk has transferred ownership and will step aside from all responsibilities.”
Kowalczyk and Patrick are subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, which could be extended to life sentences should they be convicted of attempted coercion of a minor charges. The couple pleaded not guilty.