Ohio Catholic priest blackmailed young boys with nude photos they gave him, feds say
An Ohio priest was indicted Thursday, accused of blackmailing boys in his parish to send him nude photos and videos, according to federal authorities.
Robert D. McWilliams, a former seminarian at St. Helen’s Catholic Church in Newbury Township who also served at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Strongsville, was first arrested in December with charges in Cuyahoga and Geauga counties, according to the News-Herald. He pleaded not guilty in January to 21 charges, many of which were possession of child porn, WEWS reported.
He now faces a eight-count indictment on charges ranging from sex trafficking of a minor to sexual exploitation of children, according to Justin Herdman, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The indictment was handed down Thursday by a federal grand jury.
“The alleged acts committed in this case are a disturbing and strong reminder for parents to be vigilant about who their children talk to and what they do online,” Herdman stated in a news release.
The 40-year-old priest had around 1,700 images and videos of child pornography and another 150 files on a Dropbox account, officials say. He obtained many of them while pretending to be a female on social media apps, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
From 2017-2019, McWilliams made contact with “young boys, some of whom attended parishes he was affiliated with,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
He enticed the boys to send him “sexually explicit” photos and videos, according to court documents, federal officials said. On some occasions, he coerced boys into sending him photos to threatening to release embarrassing information he knew about them, Herdman said.
“At times, McWilliams is alleged to have threatened to send those photographs to family and friends if the minor male victims did not send additional photographs and videos,” Herdman said. “McWilliams is also alleged to have followed through on this threat by sending the mothers sexually explicit photographs he received from minor male victims.”
The case was turned over to federal officials when “Geauga County investigators uncovered evidence that McWilliams solicited child prostitutes online,” the News-Herald reported.
McWilliams met a boy on the social networking website Grindr.com, federal officials say. The 15-year-old boy told investigators that he performed sex acts with McWilliams three times and the boy was paid $200, according to court documents, Cleveland.com reported.
McWilliams, who was ordained in May 2017, was placed on administrative leave by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland following his December arrest, according to the diocese.
He faces two counts of sex trafficking a minor, three counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of transportation of child porn, one count of distributing child porn and one count of child porn possession.
In a statement to Cleveland.com, the Diocese said it is “grateful to those in law enforcement who have worked diligently to investigate this matter. As the criminal case against McWilliams proceeds, let us continue to pray for justice to be served and healing for those who have been harmed by sexual abuse.”
Anyone with information regarding the case should contact Homeland Security Investigations at 216-749-9602.
