CLEVELAND — *WARNING: The story below might be triggering for survivors of sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.
A lawsuit filed earlier this month claims the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland failed to protect a teen boy who was sexually assaulted by a now-deceased former priest.
The complaint submitted in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court alleges Robert McWilliams raped and molested the 19-year-old plaintiff — identified only as "John Doe" — "on multiple occasions" beginning when the victim was just 15. The contended abuse occurred from 2017-18, when McWilliams was an assistant pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Strongsville.
St. Joseph is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit, as is the diocese as well as current Bishop Edward C. Malesic, who arrived in Cleveland more than a year after McWilliams' crimes became public knowledge. Attorney Konrad Kircher claims the diocese knew McWilliams "was an immature, emotionally unstable individual who, in the context of the history of clergy sexual abuse of children, presented a threat to harm children," and that this information was available during McWilliams' time as a seminarian from 2014-17.
McWilliams was arrested outside St. Joseph in December of 2019 on accusations of sex trafficking, child pornography, and exploiting children. He was in possession of thousands of illegal images, and court filings revealed he had used embarrassing information obtained during confessions to extort young boys into sending him sexually explicit pictures.
These crimes occurred both during McWilliams' time as a seminarian as well as during his employment at St. Joseph. He eventually pleaded guilty to all charges and received a life sentence, with Pope Francis later permanently banishing him from the priesthood. On Feb. 4, 2022, he died by suicide at a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
No other employees from the Diocese of Cleveland have been criminally charged in the McWilliams case, with Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O'Malley telling 3News he had no reason to believe Church officials engaged in any sort of cover-up. However, the John Doe lawsuit asserts the diocese should never have put McWilliams in his position due to their "specific knowledge of McWilliams' mental instability," as well as past child sexual abuse scandals involving Catholic clergy both in Cleveland and around the world. The complaint also noted he had used diocesan equipment to access illegal websites and that no software was in place to prevent him from doing so.
"As a direct and proximate result of Defendants' wrongdoing, Plaintiff has endured physical and emotional injuries, both temporary and permanent, has incurred medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering damages, and will continue to suffer such harms into the future," the filing read.
3News reached out to the Diocese of Cleveland, which offered the following statement:
"The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland has received and is reviewing the lawsuit brought on behalf of an unnamed plaintiff. While we can offer no comment on that pending matter, the Diocese continues to offer prayers for all those impacted by the reprehensible crimes of Robert McWilliams. The Diocese has been a leader in the protection of children for the past two decades and remains committed to creating safe environments for children in the parishes and schools throughout the Diocese."
We also contacted St. Joseph Catholic Church as well as the office of Archbishop of Philadelphia Nelson Perez, who was Bishop of Cleveland during the time of the allegations made in the lawsuit. The Archdiocese "would not comment on pending litigation matters involving another diocese," while St. Joseph referred back to the Diocese's of Cleveland's remarks.
You can read the full complaint below: