A substitute teacher for Evergreen Park’s Queen of Martyr’s Catholic School has been fired after a long history of child molestation allegations came to light, the Archdiocese of Chicago said in a letter to Catholic school families Sunday.
The teacher 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.
“Upon learning these allegations, we took immediate action to bar him from our schools and he has been terminated,” said the letter, signed by the superintendent of schools, Greg Richmond, and Leah Heffernan, director of the achdiocese’s office for the protection of children and youth
The teacher faced allegations of child molestation in Illinois and other states, the archdiocese said, and 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 state background and fingerprint checks, the archdiocese said.
The teacher worked with at least one family with a student enrolled at a Catholic school in the south suburbs, the archdiocese said.
He worked as a long-term substitute teacher at St. Walter-St. Benedict School in Chicago during the 2024-2025 school year, as a third party vendor at Pope John Paul II Catholic School in Chicago at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year and as a substitute teacher at Queen of Martyrs Catholic School in January 2026.
Queen of Martyrs’ school advisory board said in a letter Saturday that its parents came together “to express concerns, ask hard questions and advocate for change.” They met with representatives from the archdiocese and continue to discuss improving hiring practices, procedures and safety protocols at Queen of Martyrs, the letter stated.
The school affirmed that after concerns were brought forward, the teacher was fired and his access to the school was suspended. An open house for current and prospective families was held Sunday following its regular Mass.
The archdiocese thanked parents of students at Queen of Martyrs, who it said “have been instrumental in shedding light on this situation.” The archdiocese said it is cooperating with the Department of Children and Family Services and two police departments.
“The presence of this individual in some of our schools and with some of our students is very alarming,” the archdiocese said. “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.”
The archdiocese encouraged parents of children who interacted with the teacher in any ways that made them uncomfortable contact the DCFS Hotline at 1-800-252-2873, their local police department and/or the archdiocese office for the protection of children and youth at 312-534-5254.
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