Robert D. McWilliams, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, Ohio 2017

A former Northeast Ohio priest has pleaded guilty to charges of sex trafficking of a minor, sexual exploitation of a child, and possession of child pornography. Robert D. McWilliams, 41, of Strongsville, Ohio, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison after admitting to his crimes in federal court.

Between 2017 and 2019, McWilliams solicited sexually explicit images of minors online and engaged in sexual acts with minor victims in exchange for alcohol and other things of value. The priest used multiple fake personas, including a teenage girl, and several social media mobile applications to contact his minor victims. Some of the victims were known to McWilliams through his time in the seminary with the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland at a parish where the children and their families were affiliated.

McWilliams used the social networking website Grindr.com to make contact with a minor victim for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex. He then enticed this minor victim to identify another minor victim with whom McWilliams could engage in commercial sex acts. McWilliams met the victims on multiple occasions for the purpose of engaging in sex acts in exchange for money and alcohol.

In addition to his online activities, an investigation revealed that McWilliams was in possession of an HP laptop computer and an external hard drive that contained hundreds of images and videos of child pornography. Further investigation revealed that McWilliams had a Dropbox cloud storage account where he stored approximately 150 image and video files of child pornography.

The case was investigated by the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (“ICAC”) Task Force. James Flaiz, the Geauga County Prosecutor, is an assigned Special Assistant U.S. Attorney on this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol M. Skutnik.

McWilliams is scheduled to be sentenced on November 9, 2021. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The charges against McWilliams include two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, and one count each of transportation of child pornography, receipt and distribution of visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and possession of child pornography.

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