Child discovers youth pastor recording her undressing at church camp site, feds say
A 12-year-old girl discovered a pastor recording her undressing at her church youth group’s camp site in western New York, according to court documents.
Now her former youth pastor, Nathan L. Rogers, 39, of East Aurora, is facing up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors announced on Sept. 13.
The case dates to July 2019, when the child traveled with her Buffalo-area youth group to attend a Christian music festival at Darien Lake Park in Genesee County, according to an affidavit.
After the child visited Darien Lake’s water park, Rogers invited her to change into dry clothes in his camper instead of her tent, telling her “it would be more comfortable than changing in a hot tent,” the affidavit says.
Inside the camper, the girl found a hidden iPhone propped on a ledge and concealed by clothes that had been recording her after she finished dressing, according to the affidavit. Then, she found a second hidden iPhone on Rogers’ bed that was also recording her, the affidavit says.
Upon finding Rogers’ phones, the child tried deleting the videos of herself before reporting him to law enforcement, according to federal prosecutors, who said Rogers recorded her “for the purposes of his own sexual gratification.”
When officers arrived and asked Rogers if he knew why they were there, he said, “I did something really stupid,” and told them he set up the cameras inside his camper, the affidavit says.
Now Rogers has pleaded guilty to attempted receipt of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York announced in a news release.
He will be sentenced to at least five years in prison, the mandatory minimum penalty for the charge he’s pleaded guilty to, on Dec. 13, according to prosecutors.
Attorney Phil A. Modrzynski, who represents Rogers, told McClatchy News in a statement that he “admitted to his regretful conduct” and cooperated with law enforcement.
Rogers “has always accepted accountability for his conduct and is extremely remorseful for what happened that day,” Modrzynski said.
His client was previously a youth pastor at Life Church in West Seneca, The Buffalo News reported.
McClatchy News contacted Life Church for comment on Sept. 14 and was awaiting a response.
Rogers’ guilty plea in federal court comes after he was sentenced to six months in state jail for unlawful surveillance, according to The Buffalo News.
Darien Lake Park is about 30 miles east of Buffalo.
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