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.
Sara Shookman reports: [ Ссылка ]
