Priest facing federal charges

A Strongsville Catholic priest accused of crimes in Cuyahoga and Geauga counties is now facing federal charges of child pornography, child exploitation and juvenile sex trafficking.

The charges come after Geauga County Prosecutor James Flaiz said in Geauga County court filing that his office has been in contact with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. McWilliams is a former seminarian at St. Helen’s Catholic Church in Newbury Township.

“Through a forensic review of electronic items seized from the defendant along with follow-up interviews in both Ohio and out of state, an investigator with the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office has uncovered evidence that defendant was engaged with activities involving child prostitution,” Flaiz wrote in the court filing.

According to a Feb. 21 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, McWilliams allegedly used a social media network to make contact with a minor male victim “for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex.” He allegedly met the victim on multiple occasions, and, in exchange for sex, paid the 15-yearold approximately $100 per act.

He is also accused of being in possession, receiving or distributing child pornography, which included approximately 1,700 images and videos, according to the news release. He also allegedly had about 150 files of child pornography in a Dropbox cloud storage account.

McWilliams also allegedly pretended to be a woman on social media applications, which he used to make contact with minor male victims.

“Allegedly, certain of McWilliams’ victims were young boys McWilliams knew because he served as a priest in parishes with which these children and there families were affiliated,” the news release stated.

“Posing as the female, McWilliams allegedly enticed the minor male victims to send sexually explicit photographs and videos, sometimes threatening to expose embarrassing information McWilliams already knew about the victims if they did not send such images.”

McWilliams is alleged to have at times threatened to send those photos to family and friends if the minor victim did not send additional photos and videos. McWilliams is also alleged to have followed through on this threat by sending the mothers sexually explicit photographs he received from minor male victims, according to the new release.

Anyone with knowledge of McWilliams’ contact with children is asked to contact Homeland Security Investigations at 216-749-9602.

He is currently being held in the Geauga County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bond. Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David M. Ondrey Feb. 20 denied McWilliams’ request for a lower bond.

McWilliams was first arrested Dec. 5, 2019 at St. Joseph in Strongsville after the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force raided his office and living space.

The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland placed McWilliams on administrative leave following his Dec. 5 arrest. Records from the diocese show McWilliams was ordained in May 2017.

The case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office and Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children.

Robert McWilliams