Maryville director leaves post because of questionable background

DURAND, Ill. -- The director of the Maryville Academy Farm Campus, a group home for troubled girls, has left his job after a background check uncovered previously undisclosed criminal charges and seven paternity lawsuits.

Maryville Executive Director Catherine Ryan said Keith L. Jones will not return to his position after taking a "personal leave" last week. Ryan declined to say Tuesday whether Jones resigned or was fired.

Maryville officials conceded Jones had been hired in 2005 despite a 1997 felony gun conviction. But when shown court documents last week, Ryan -- who took over the troubled Maryville campuses in 2004 -- said she had not been fully aware of Jones' troubled background.

Jones' record also showed a misdemeanor gun conviction in 1992 and a misdemeanor battery charge that was dismissed by prosecutors in 1993.

Jones also faced seven successful paternity lawsuits that revealed he fathered eight children with seven women over 20 years, according to court records. A judge on Feb. 15 ordered $240 withheld from his paycheck to support a child of his born in 2005, records show.

Ryan said Jones told officials about the 1997 gun charge when he was hired.

"I didn't know about it until recently, but it's not that he didn't disclose the offense," she said.

Ryan said questions about the 1997 felony case, in which Jones admitted having a gun while at a Rockford grammar school, sparked the inquiry that led to his departure. Ryan played down the paternity lawsuits, saying Jones' child support payments were being withheld from his pay.

The case is being examined internally as Maryville officials discuss how to improve staff information, Ryan said.

"We are having a very serious discussion about how we gather the appropriate background for staff," she said. "We have to look at this again to see what further, if anything, we should be doing."

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services licenses the Durand site, as it does other child-care facilities, but it does not license the campus' workers. Children in state care have not been at the Durand facility in four years. Families place girls at Durand to help them deal with clinical and emotional problems.