The Story of the Brady Smith Case

I. Home II. Summary of Case III. Brady Smith      a. Evidence and Allegations      b. Profile      c. Audiotape Transcript IV. John Piland's Handling of Case      a. The Plea Bargain      b. The Conflict of Interest      c. The Probation Violations      d. The Untried Cases V. The Civil Cases VI. Conclusions      a. Effects on our Community      b. What You Can Do Who I Am Credits Discussion Forum

When the news broke in May 2001 that Brady Smith had solicited a 14-year-old boy for sex, many people were shocked that such a thing could happen here in Champaign. He was the Dean of Students at Franklin Middle School, and a respected member of the community, and our community has always prided itself on being a great place to raise children. Like most parents in the area with children in school, I was deeply concerned when I first heard about it. Then, when multiple boys came forward alleging abuse, I just wanted to see justice for the boys and the community, so we could all move forward. However, my concerns turned into anger and then a deep sense of injustice when State's Attorney John Piland assigned a friend of Smith's to the prosecution and allowed Smith to plea bargain out of the most serious charges against him, despite having audiotape evidence of the solicitation. I didn't feel any better when he later sat on evidence of a probation violation for six months. I finally felt a sense of defeat when yet another plaintiff (unrelated to the criminal charges) lost his civil trial against Smith. How could our community so completely fail these kids and their parents? And what can we possibly do now to start healing these wounds? I decided that rather than simply feel bad, I would research the case to see whether my perceptions were actually backed up by facts. Is Brady Smith a pedophile? Was John Piland's handling of the case a travesty of justice? Why did the civil case plaintiff lose the trial? The result of that investigation is this website, which contains links to some of the publicly available documents about the case, as well as a discussion board to allow the public to comment on the case. I did interview John Piland about the case, so that I would understand his reasons for his actions. I found Mr. Piland to be very personable and enthusiastic in his defense of the case. Nonetheless, my conclusion, as an outsider to the criminal justice system, is that Piland's handling of the prosecution has indeed harmed our community, and continues to harm it. Everyone makes mistakes, but as any prosecutor will tell you, mistakes that harm communities require accountability. My own recommendation for accountability in this case would be supporting Julia Rietz for State's Attorney in the November elections.   A critical component of a strong community is that its citizens have faith in the criminal justice system and John Piland has simply lost too much credibility over his handling of this and many other cases.  There are times when a community can send a clear message to the world that it does care about social injustice, and sometimes that message can be delivered as the outcome of an election. This is one of those times. I do not personally know Julia Rietz nor am I involved with her campaign. I did contact her to verify one thing:  If she is elected, she has promised to investigate charges against Brady Smith in another case that came forward after the original plea bargain, but which John Piland has chosen not to prosecute.  Note that my intent is not to be partisan with this website - I just believe that a fresh start is critical for our community right now. I have taken great pains on this site to document the sources of facts that I present. I do include my own opinions in the story, but I hope it is easy to see the difference between my opinions and the facts, so you can draw your own conclusions. I will update anything on the site that is not true - my aim is to be accurate and fair. To begin learning about the case, go to the Summary Page.