Brandon L. Novak mug shot (Ross County Jail)
A professional bowler from Ohio who was arrested midway through a game during the U.S. Open tournament in Indiana has been extradited back to his home state where he will face a spate of charges for allegedly transacting in child sexual abuse material. Brandon L. Novak was taken into custody earlier this month and charged with five counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and 10 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a report from CNN, Novak in January was indicted by an Ohio grand jury.
The case first garnered attention by the manner in which Novak was arrested. YouTube channel 11thframe posted footage from BowlTV of Novak in the midst of a game on Feb. 1 at the 2024 U.S. Open at Royal Pin Woodland in Indianapolis. Novak was reportedly in the seventh frame of his second game when two agents with the U.S. Marshals Service entered the facility and placed him under arrest. Though the arrest reportedly takes place just off-camera, Novak was reportedly handcuffed and led outside by the federal agents.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by The Columbus Dispatch provided additional details about the circumstances regarding Novak’s arrest.
According to the report, investigators with the Chillicothe Police Department began looking into Novak in February 2023 after a tip was sent to a detective via Facebook claiming that an account associated with Novak had been associated with child sexual abuse material.
Authorities reportedly obtained and executed a search warrant on Novak’s home. During a subsequent interview with detectives, police said that Novak admitted to buying pornography from another user on the social media app Snapchat. However, Novak reportedly told the detectives that he did not know that any of the videos would contain child sexual abuse material.
As investigators continued to press Novak, he reportedly confessed that he purchased the videos knowing what they contained and then made an effort to cover-up his crime.
Novak is currently in detention at the Ross County Jail in Ohio. It was not immediately clear if he had an amount set for bond. He is currently scheduled to appear in court on March 21 for a pretrial hearing.
Despite having to withdraw from the U.S. Open competition due to his arrest, Novak reportedly bowled well enough to finish 36th in the event, garnering a total of $1,500 in prize money.
