Chicago Archdiocese fires substitute teacher with history of child molestation allegations
By Todd Feurer, Jermont Terry, Tara Molina
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CHICAGO (WBBM) — The Archdiocese of Chicago has fired a substitute teacher with a long history of child molestation allegations in Illinois and other states.
The announcement on Monday has raised questions about how Brett Smith was hired in the first place, and parents at the school where he most recently worked in Evergreen Park are fired up.
The archdiocese said Smith, formerly known as Brett Zagorac, worked in at least four Catholic schools in the city and suburbs over the past 16 months.
Smith was a long-term substitute teacher last school year at St. Walter-St. Benedict School, which has campuses in the Morgan Park neighborhood and south suburban Blue Island. He also worked for a third-party vendor at Pope John Paul II School in the Brighton Park neighborhood at the beginning of this school year. He was a substitute teacher at Queen of Martyrs School in Evergreen Park this month. He also has worked as a private tutor for at least one family enrolled at a Catholic school in the south suburbs.
While the archdiocese said they are not aware of any allegations of sexual misconduct against Smith while working at St. Walter-St. Benedict, Pope John Paul II, or Queen of Martyrs schools, one family in the south suburbs filed a complaint against him for conduct while he was tutoring in their home.
“The presence of this individual in some of our schools and with some of our students is very alarming. We want to thank parents at Queen of Martyrs who have been instrumental in shedding light on this situation,” the archdiocese said in a statement. “We regret that this individual has been in several of our schools and are deeply committed to providing a safe environment for all our students.” Evergreen Park police confirmed they are investigating Smith, and a report of a possible incident involving a child, but wouldn’t address questions related to the case.
The archdiocese said they immediately moved to remove Smith from their schools and to fire him after they learned of his history of child molestation allegations. Officials said, despite that history, he had passed state background checks and fingerprint checks when he was first hired in 2024.
The archdiocese said it is cooperating with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and two suburban police departments as it seeks to learn more about Smith’s background.
A spokesperson for DCFS confirmed they’ve opened an investigation.
Illinois State Police said both the archdiocese and the Chicago Board of Education requested fingerprint checks for Smith in 2024 and 2025, but said they could not share the information provided by those criminal history checks.
Smith legally changed his name in 2019. He used to go by Brett Zagorac. Officials said he also goes by BJ Smith and has used the name BJ Wilhelm.
In Arizona, that state’s attorney general has accused Smith of legally changing his name to hide his past in 2021.
Accused by multiple families of inappropriately touching children, he was sentenced to probation on a forgery charge in 2022.
12News in Phoenix spoke to an Indiana parent who was the first to report him to police more than 20 years ago.
“The more I read this, the more it makes me angry he’s still doing it,” the parent told 12News.
In 2010, before changing his name, Smith was working as a tutor and was charged with child molesting in Porter County, Indiana. A jury convicted him of misdemeanor battery of a 5-year-old.
In 2015, he was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Wilmette. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of battery/physical contact.
Parents at Queen of Martyrs did not want to go on camera on Monday, but in a statement, they called for new safeguards to prevent this in the future.
Smith is not facing any current criminal charges. Officials at the archdiocese asked anyone whose child has had contact with Smith that makes them uncomfortable to call their local police department or the DCFS Hotline (1.800.25.ABUSE). They can also contact the Archdiocese Office for the Protection of Children and Youth at 312-534-5254.
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