CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2 Chicago
Sept. 13, 2019
By Brad Edwards
The CBS 2 Investigators made a remarkable discovery about the statue of once-beloved Fr. John Smyth, the disgraced longtime leader of Maryville Academy in Des Plaines.
The bronze statue came to symbolize pain for grown men who have accused Smyth of sexually abusing them when they were children.
CBS 2 Investigator Brad Edwards sat down with the attorney representing a dozen accusers, and then he went to see the statue.
Smyth was a captivating figure. He was a star on the University of Notre Dame’s basketball team and selected by St. Louis in the 1957 NBA draft. He chose the priesthood instead. He was assigned to Maryville after ordination in 1962 and became its executive director in 1970 — a position he held until it was shuttered in 2004.
Smyth could have been a star in the NBA, yet he decided to take over a rundown orphanage in Des Plaines.
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