The husband of a former owner of a popular Orlando gay nightclub pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to lure a teenager for sex in a deal that could mean he must testify against his spouse.
Eric Patrick, 31, pleaded guilty in an Orlando courtroom to attempting to entice a 15-year-old, whom Patrick and his husband, Richard Kowalczyk, met on Grindr, a dating app for gay men, according to Patrick’s plea agreement. 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.
Patrick agreed to the plea deal in January, just weeks before the couple was set to go to trial in federal court for child sex crimes. Two of the charges against Patrick were dropped in exchange for him having to register as a sex offender and agree to cooperate with prosecutors against Kowalczyk, court records show.
He is to be sentenced May 7. His attorney filed a motion to allow him to remain free until sentencing, but U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Mendoza denied the request Monday and turned Patrick over to the U.S. Marshals Service, according to court records.
Kowalczyk’s trial is set for April. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, records show.
Patrick and Kowalczyk were arrested in January 2025, 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.
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.