CLEVELAND — There were horrific crimes committed by Father Robert McWilliams while he served Catholic churches in the Cleveland Diocese. Church leaders told us the predator priest was “thoroughly vetted” before they put him on the altar, but he was just “a master of deception,” and no red flags were missed.
That outraged child victims’ advocates. “They don’t roll up their sleeves and do the hard work,” said Claudia Vercellotti from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “And the hard work is standing up there and saying we screwed up, and now we got to fix it.”
In this report, you’ll read how confessionals, technology, and even victims’ homes were used in a twisted, dark path of crime. Plus, there’s new information from the lead investigator talking exclusively with News 5.
“It is odd and it is an extraordinary case because McWilliams was in a position where people trusted him,” said Investigator Richard Warner from the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office.
THE PREDATOR PRIEST, FR. ROBERT MCWILLIAMS
McWilliams from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland committed child sex crimes from 2017 to 2019, was sentenced to life behind bars, and then died by suicide in a federal prison in 2022. He left several victims and their families in his wake while the Cleveland Diocese, to this day, keeps defending why it didn’t stop McWilliams sooner.
We have asked the leader of the diocese, Bishop Edward Malesic, for a sit-down interview several times, and he has declined every time.
We want to warn you the details of this case are disturbing.
BOYS TRYING TO CONNECT WITH A GIRL
This story really starts out innocently enough, with teenage boys doing what so many have done before—going online to talk to and connect with girls.
In this case, two different boys had conversations with the same girl that they both liked, and she seemed to like them back.
As the conversations went on, the boys both made a fateful decision. They sent the girl naked pictures of themselves.
It was at that moment Warner said that the fun and flirting stopped. The girl started extorting each of the teens. “Turning it back on them saying, ‘Hey, if you don’t send me more nudes, I’m going to send these pictures to your family,'” explained Warner.
She even threatened to tell a boy’s parents he was using marijuana. The boys didn’t want to get in trouble. They were very worried. “It had gotten to the point where one of the boys was kind of suicidal and was really distraught,” said Warner.
The boys belonged to a church in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland called St. Helen’s in Newbury Township. Fr. McWilliams had gotten close to the boys.
“He was coming to family dinners and family gatherings and was really part of these families,” said Warner.
IT WAS MCWILLIAMS THE WHOLE TIME
But, as it turns out, the entire time, it was McWilliams posing as that girl online, even using the boys’ confessions against them. All of this while the priest, McWilliams, offered the family assistance with the boy.
“He was acting in the role of what a family would want their priest to do is to help counsel their child,” explained Warner.
Another twist: while McWilliams was in one of the victim’s homes one day, he excused himself, saying he needed to make a call. But in reality, he was sending anonymous texts to that boy’s mother about her son’s naked pictures, all so he could see their reaction in person.
A 3RD VICTIM WAS ASKED TO FIND MORE KIDS
Then, there was a third victim who was a 14-year-old boy. McWilliams met him on the gay dating app Grindr. He got together with the teen several times and paid him for sexual acts, but McWilliams wanted more from the boy.
“There was even conversation later on of, ‘Hey, if you can find me more friends of yours…,’ basically he was offering a finder’s fee,” Warner told us.
Konrad Kircher represented victim No. 3.
RELATED: Teen sues Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, claims it failed to protect him from abuse
“As he grew a little older and realized how he had been exploited and by whom he had been exploited, it obviously became very traumatic for him,” said Kircher.
Investigators would eventually find McWilliams had thousands of pictures and videos of children being sexually abused stored on his computer and other technology in McWilliams’ office and living area at St. Joseph’s Church in Strongsville.
A FOLDER ON A CHURCH SERVER
However, Warner said that’s not the only place they found the despicable porn.
“(McWilliams’ computer) had synchronized to their server. So, we also located child pornography on the server at St. Joseph,” revealed Warner.
He told us he informed church leaders about the child pornography on their server.
“We were able to tell them, ‘Hey, you need to clear this account. You need to get rid of this information because there is contraband here,’” said Warner.
“So, you told the diocese to get rid of this stuff?” we asked.
“When I was at St. Joseph, yes,” Warner replied.
“What was their reaction to your suggestion?” we asked.
“They acknowledged it and said OK,” Warner told us.
“So, they knew that this folder existed at one time on their server?” we inquired.
“Yes,” Warner replied.
DIOCESE SAYS IT DIDN'T MISS ANYTHING
But when News 5 Investigators asked the diocese if any of the church’s computer equipment was used by McWilliams, in an email, the diocese said, in part, “…based on all of the evidence known to the diocese, McWilliams did not use any church owned equipment…to commit any of his crimes….”
“You would think in something as serious as this that, that information would be passed up to the appropriate channels,” said Warner.
And as part of another recent email, the diocese told us “McWilliams was able to commit his vile acts because he was a master of deception, not because anyone failed to notice something they should have noticed.”
ADVOCATES, WATCHDOGS ARE OUTRAGED
Child victims’ advocates and watchdog groups asked what about the child porn on the church-owned server?
They said the diocese should have given News 5 a different answer.
“We have not done our due diligence,” said Vercellotti about what she said should have been the response. “We have failed the parishioners and the community at large in Cleveland and the parents and family members of every child of those graphic images.”
Anne Barrett Doyle is the co-director of BishopAccountability.org.
“This bishop and this diocese do not come clean to the Cleveland faithful because they feel they don’t have to,” said Barrett Doyle.
Warner handed News 5 Investigators a screenshot showing just the titles of the content on that server. Even without the images, we can’t list them here. They are obviously sexual, with one even referencing 14 and 16-year-olds.
“How is that even possible?” questioned Vercellotti.
INVESTIGATOR: THERE WERE BROKEN PROMISES
Malesic has been the Cleveland Diocese leader since September 2020. Warner said after the death of McWilliams in 2022, the diocese was going to work with McWilliams’ victims’ families to help prevent these kinds of crimes in the future, but that hasn’t come to fruition.
“There was a process that we were working through and I was asked to be on that advisory or to provide any type of technical assistance and, unfortunately, nothing has happened since. I mean it’s kind of been stonewalled,” said Warner.
“Once again we see them operating callously and recklessly,” said Barrett Doyle.
“To the families that were betrayed by empty promises and empty words, keep pushing,” said Vercellotti. “Push publicly and continue to push the diocese at the highest level.”
The Cleveland Diocese has told News 5 Investigators, “Bishop Malesic cares deeply about the protection of children…(and) the diocese is unaware of any credible information that calls that commitment into question....”
“They are the ones who have to look in the mirror and believe what they’re saying,” said Warner.
VICTIMS' FAMILIES TOLD HIM TO STEP FORWARD
Before sitting down with us for this interview, Warner told us he called the families of McWilliams’ victims. He said they told him if something good could come from him stepping forward, he should do it.
“That’s the reason I’m here,” said Warner. “The families are trying to do things to get the diocese to put things in place. And, unfortunately, it’s not moving as quickly as everyone had hoped.”
One of the victims in this case sued the diocese, and a settlement was reached. There is no admission of guilt by the Catholic Church.
The diocese told us all web-browsing content filters were in place during the time McWilliams was abusing children. However, Warner said that filtering won’t work if predators use other means to get child porn, like the dark web or other means.
