Sex offenders targeting real estate agents in Northeast Ohio are attending open houses again

SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) – A warning Thursday night that a convicted sex offender with a long-standing obsession with female real estate agents in Northeast Ohio is on the hunt again.

Longtime realtor Jana Chervenic says the one appointment she will never forget was with Robert Willett, a Summit County man who claimed he wanted to look at a vacant home in Akron.

Chervenic says she received a text message containing a pornographic image two weeks earlier from the same cell phone Willett used to make the appointment.

“I had this horrible, heavy, disgusting feeling and when I hung up the phone I actually said to myself, ‘I think someone wants to kill me.’ That seems extreme to me now, but that’s what I was thinking in my head,” Chervenic said.

Because of this feeling, Chervenic asked police to follow her to the appointment and was amazed at what they found when they confronted Willett.

“I heard the police screaming, ‘Hands up, hands up!’ and apparently he reached into his pocket, and sure enough in his pocket he had a box cutter, duct tape and zip ties,” she said.

Chervenic says she often thinks about what would have happened if she hadn’t followed her intuition.

Based on his behavior over the years, investigators have concluded that Willett, now 67, who also goes by the names Bill Parks and Tim Ramsey, has a dangerous obsession with real estate agents.

“He went to jail because of what happened to me and another agent, he got out, he hit again, he went back to jail, he got out and he hit again,” she said.

Over the years, she heard from other agents who had met Willett in person.

“’Wow, six years ago I met this guy, five years ago I met this guy and I felt so creeped out by him,’ and they said, ‘I was in the house with him and I was like, ‘I “I have to get out of here,” Chervenic said.

Willett is attending open houses again, according to a new safety alert for real estate agents in Northeast Ohio.

“Robert Willett is 6-foot-4, 270 pounds and has an artificial right leg, so he’s not hard to miss,” said Mike Valerino, CEO of the Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors.

In a recent case investigated by police, a man approached an agent at an open house in Sagamore Hills and began asking questions that the agent found strange.

She called a friend who called the police, whereupon the “customer” quickly fled.

Investigators have not clearly linked Willett to the incident, but real estate agents say that is consistent with his MO.

“I’m glad she recognized that and took action. That doesn’t surprise me, that’s exactly what he does,” Chervenic said.

Due to the recent incident, the Association of Realtors reminds agents to ensure they do their research on anyone they wish to meet with and urges all agents to follow the buddy system.

“Especially at this time you shouldn’t be holding open days alone. They shouldn’t show vacant properties at night,” Valerino said. “They should really pay attention to what’s going on around them.”