The Chicago Archdiocese announced Monday that Evergreen Park’s Queen of Martyrs Catholic School appointed an interim principal, less than a week after a substitute teacher was fired and charged over child molestation allegations.
While the archdiocese did not confirm why former Principal Stephen Davidson no longer works at the school, Beth Guerrero’s appointment “comes as Queen of Martyrs moves forward after the termination of a second-grade teacher,” it said in a news release.
Brett Smith, a 43-year-old Tinley Park resident, was charged last week in Orland Park with felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse to a minor and in Evergreen Park with misdemeanor battery for physical contact with a minor.
“Our community has shown tremendous strength and resolve over the past week,” said the Rev. Ritchie Ortiz, priest and administrator of St. Gianna Molla Parish in Evergreen Park. “Beth’s leadership reflects the values that define Queen of Martyrs — faith, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to doing what is right.”
Guerrero has worked at Queen of Martyrs for four years, most recently as a kindergarten teacher. The archdiocese said she has more than 20 years of experience in education, and has a master’s degree in early childhood education and teaching from Saint Xavier University.
The archdiocese fired Smith after it said a Queen of Martyrs parent reached out with concerns about past allegations of child molestation in Illinois and Indiana.
Smith has gone by several names while seeking employment at schools and offering tutoring services to families. He was hired by the archdiocese in 2024, having passed background and fingerprint checks, the archdiocese said.
Orland Park police said they began investigating Smith after parents of a child he was tutoring under the alias BJ S. McAuliffe became concerned when the name for a requested bank payment appeared as Brett Smith. The felony charge followed allegations that Smith made sexual contact with a 9-year-old boy while he was working as his tutor.
The misdemeanor charge followed allegations that Smith made unwanted physical contact with a juvenile while working at Queen of Martyrs, placing his hand on the student’s hand and pressing his upper back onto the student’s back while conducting a school-related activity.
Smith, the archdiocese, Ortiz and Davidson were also sued by the mother of a Queen of Martyrs student, who alleges that Smith began grooming and inappropriately touching her son “immediately upon being hired” at the Catholic school last month.
Smith worked at at least four schools on the South Side of Chicago and in the south suburbs over the past 16 months, the archdiocese said.
The lawsuit alleges the grooming included Smith “bestowing disingenuous and inordinate adulation” onto the student while forcing bodily contact with the student while the student was confined to his desk.
A spokesperson for the archdiocese said it does not comment on lawsuits. Regarding the archdiocese’s hiring of Guerrero, Ortiz said she “is a trusted educator whose heart for children is evident in everything she does.”
“She is well known to and respected by our families and faculty and brings a deep sense of vocation to her work, pairing academic excellence with compassionate leadership,” Ortiz said. “She is the right person to guide our school during this time.”
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
