A former youth pastor in upstate New York was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison for child pornography.
Nathan L. Rogers, 40, of East Aurora, pleaded guilty last year to attempted receipt of child porn, for which he could have faced up to 20 years behind bars.
Rogers used at least two iPhones to “surreptitiously” record nude images of a 12-year-old girl in July 2019 “for his own sexual gratification,” prosecutors said.
The incident unfolded during Kingdom Bound, a large Christian music festival at a water park in Darien Lake, which the young victim was attending with her youth group from Life Church Buffalo in West Seneca.
On July 31, the last day of the festival, the girl was heading toward her tent to change out of her bathing suit when Rogers, then a part-time student pastor, invited her to change in his camper, saying “it would be more comfortable than changing in a hot tent,” according to an affidavit.
The girl said yes and removed her clothes as the iPhones recorded her.
After she finished changing, she noticed the two hidden phones, which had been recording her for about 13 minutes.
She deleted the videos and then called her mother, who notified authorities.
Rogers was arrested and initially convicted after pleading guilty to state charges of second-degree unlawful surveillance. He was sentenced in December 2020 to six months behind bars and five years of probation.
However, after FBI agents discovered pictures and video files depicting child pornography on his cellphone, federal prosecutors opened a case against Rogers.
On Sept. 11, 2023, Rogers pleaded guilty to attempted receipt of child pornography.