A former Orange County Public School teacher — whose husband was an owner of a gay night club — plans to plead guilty Thursday to attempting to lure a 15-year-old for sex, court records show, a move that comes just weeks before the couple was set to go to trial in federal court for child sex crimes.
Eric Patrick is to plead guilty to attempting to entice the teenager, whom prosecutors said and his husband, Richard Kowalczyk, met on Grindr, a dating app for gay men, according to the plea agreement signed Monday. The two exchanged text messages with the teen on the app, prosecutors said.
The couple’s arrest shocked Orlando’s LGBTQ community as Kowalczyk was a co-owner of Southern Nights Orlando and District Dive, two popular spots in the Milk District near downtown Orlando, and a Southern Nights location in Tampa.
If a federal judge approves the agreement, two of the charges against Patrick would be dropped: conspiracy to entice a minor and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
The agreement doesn’t mention an agreed-to sentence, but says Patrick would have to register as a sex offender and agree to cooperate with prosecutors against his husband.
Patrick and Kowalczyk, who has plead not guilty, were arrested Jan. 2, a month after their indictment by a federal grand jury, which additionally charged Kowalczyk with receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.
Federal investigators opened a probe into the couple’s activities after discovering texts exchanged on the messaging app Telegram, where an unnamed suspect and Kowalczyk allegedly discussed and sent child sexual abuse material and both parties claimed to have had sexual encounters with minors in the past.
Investigators said they confirmed Kowalczyk’s identity through Cash App payments between him and the suspect, and a search of his cellphone allegedly yielded 83 images and two videos of child exploitation that included a minor less than 12 years old.
Kowalczyk is also to appear in court Thursday for a meeting on the status of his scheduled trial, which is expected to begin Feb. 2. Andrew Searle and Fritz Scheller, Kowalczyk’s attorneys, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Patrick’s agreement.
At the time of his arrest, Scheller defended Kowalczyk, saying he “maintains his innocence and will continue to do so.” Kowalczyk has since transferred his ownership in the clubs to the co-owner.
Patrick’s agreement with prosecutors includes snippets of text messages exchanged between him and Kowalczyk in 2020, which were recovered after the couple’s home was raided by federal agents in February 2023. In the texts, the couple discussed, in graphic detail, their conversations with the teen on Grindr, where prosecutors said they also exchanged photos and videos.
“Reminds me of you when you were 16,” Kowalczyk allegedly wrote, according to Patrick’s agreement.
Patrick was a teacher at Gotha Middle School from August 2021 to May 2024, when he resigned for personal reasons, according to Orange County Public Schools.