Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 37-year-old Kyle Ernst of West Seneca pleaded guilty before State Supreme Court Justice Michael A. Montour to one count of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree, a Class “A” misdemeanor, and one count of Attempted Assault in the Third Degree, a Class “B” misdemeanor.

On May 4, 2017, the defendant admitted to contacting a third party to make contact with the protected party in violation of an Order of Protection that prohibited “Third Party Contact.” Specifically, the defendant contacted a priest at a Catholic Church in Orchard Park and asked the priest to tell the protected party to “delay the baptism until paternity of the child was determined.” The priest relayed the message to the protected party, which formed the basis of the criminal contempt charge.

The defendant also admitted that on October 18, 2016, he attempted to cause physical injury to the same protected party, his former intimate partner, at their home on Forest Drive in the Town of West Seneca by attempting to strike the victim in the upper torso.

Ernst faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail when he is sentenced on Friday, August 2, 2019 at 11 a.m. He was released on his own recognizance.

DA Flynn commends Det. Duane Wisniewski of the West Seneca Police Department and Det. John Payne of the Orchard Park Police Department for their work in the investigations.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Stephen C. Earnhart of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau.