ELYRIA – John Williams, 47, of Cleveland, was sentenced on July 25 to 20 years to life in the rape of an 11-year-old Lorain girl. Williams was convicted on two counts of rape by a jury in Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Rothgery’s courtroom. The victim spoke during the first day of the trial July 24 and testified that she met Williams on a site called meetme.com. On the same day that she started talking to him in February, she testified that they stayed at a Cleveland hotel together where they had sex twice. When Williams wanted to have sex a third time, the victim didn’t want to, which upset him. According to Lorain Detective Tabitha Angello, Williams was arrested April 30 and transported to Lorain from the Cuyahoga County Jail after a monthlong investigation. Williams had become a ‘person of interest’ when police started the investigation at the beginning of April, Angello said. He was being held at the Lorain jail for violating his parole. He was registered as a Tier II sex offender with the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office.
