ELYSE GRIECO
Editor in Chief
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, it was announced by The United States Attorney’s Office Western District of New York that Adjunct Lecturer Paul Lubienecki was arrested.
Lubienecki was charged with cyberstalking, a charge that carries a $250,000 fine and up to five years in prison.
Just eight days prior to the arrest, Lubienecki left a life-threatening voicemail to an investigative reporter from the Buffalo area.
WKBW channel 7 Eyewitness News later confirmed this reporter to be Charlie Specht.
Specht has been investigating the Dioceses of Buffalo for the past few years, revealing multiple cases of sexual abuse and misconduct within the church.
He has also been recognized multiple times on a state and national level for this work.
These threats, according to 7 Eyewitness News, have been an issue since August 2019.
Around this time, Specht had just uncovered scandals at Christ the King Seminary where Lubienecki also taught in addition to Fredonia.
Over the next six months, Specht recurved 11 concerning voicemails.
One voicemail from Lubienecki said, “You destroyed the Diocese of Buffalo and Bishop Malone, I’m gonna destroy your career.”
Another said, “You’re still a bad Catholic and a horrible reporter. I hope to God I don’t see you walking around.”
Although the voicemails were intimidating, it wasn’t until Feb. 4 when Specht feared for his life.
In this voicemail, Lubienecki said, “I know where you live in [town]. I’m going to find you. I’m going to kill you.”
Specht immediately called the police and made arrangements to keep him and his family safe.
“We were shocked, surprised and scared,” Specht said in an interview with 7 Eyewitness News. “I got the feeling that this one person — whoever they were — had spent months harassing me about really personal things, and was now threatening violence. I wanted my family to be safe. We put our trust in law enforcement to find out who was doing this.”
In an investigation with the FBI, Lubienecki was identified as the caller.
He appeared in court and was released on conditions.
United University Professions (UUP) is the union that represents professionals and staff at SUNY schools across the state.
According to Mike Lisi, director of media and publications, “All UUP members are entitled to due process and legal representation in matters such as these. Our state wide affiliate, the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) provides legal representation to members in these situations.”
But for now, Lubienecki will not be seen around campus.
Haley Fetzer, a sophomore history major, is currently enrolled in Lubienecki’s Museum Studies course.
She found out about her professor’s arrest through a friend.
“We were told Dr. Lubienecki is not teaching the rest of the semester,” Fetzer said. “Dr. David Kinkela, department chair, is presumably taking over.”
Fetzer also said Kinkela will be discussing the future of the course during the next class visit, which will take place after this issue of The Leader is published.
At the moment, it is important to remember that Lubienecki’s cyberstalking charge is an accusation.
He will remain innocent unless proven guilty.