Former Strongsville Priest To Plead Guilty To Child Sex Crimes

STRONGSVILLE, OH — A former Strongsville priest is expected to plead guilty to child sex trafficking charges on Friday.

Robert McWilliams, 40, is scheduled to make an appearance in court on Friday, Fox 8 reported. He filed an intent to plead guilty in early July.

He is charged with sex trafficking of a minor, sexual exploitation of children, transportation of child pornography, possession of child pornography, receipt and distribution of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

McWilliams pretended to be a woman online and then had sexually explicit chats with juvenile boys, court documents said. Some of McWilliams' victims were boys he knew because he served as a priest in their parishes, the court documents said.

While posing as a woman, McWilliams would entice the boys into sending explicit photographs and videos of themselves, prosecutors said. He would occasionally threaten to expose embarrassing information about the boys if they did not send the images, court documents said. Some of the boys' mothers did receive explicit photos and videos of their children from McWilliams, prosecutors said.

The affidavit against McWilliams alleges that he was in possession of or distributed approximately 1,700 images and videos of child pornography.

The priest is also accused of using Grindr.com to meet up with a juvenile boy and pay for sex, prosecutors said. McWilliams reportedly met with a teenager multiple times and paid the teenager for sex each time, court documents said.

McWilliams was taken into custody in 2019, outside of St. Joseph Parish in Strongsville.