BY: SHERMAN SMITH
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — A federal judge rejected a former Kansas foster care leader’s request to leave the country, even though a Chicago faith leader vouched for him.
Robert “Father Bobby” Smith, who led Saint Francis Ministries from 2014 to 2020, faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. He asked the court last month to travel from his home in Johnson City, Tennessee, to El Salvador so he could visit his ex-wife and attend their daughter’s high school graduation.
U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse sided with a prosecutor who warned that Smith was a flight risk, based on family connections and the federal government’s inability to apprehend him if he stayed in El Salvador.
Pastor Corey Brooks, of New Beginnings Church of Chicago, wrote a letter dated April 10 to the judge in support of Smith’s request to travel.
“I have every confidence that his intent is to attend the graduation, celebrate his daughter’s success, and return to Tennessee,” Brooks wrote.
Brooks said he believes so much in Smith that he was willing to travel with him to the graduation.
But court records show Crouse denied Smith’s request at an April 16 hearing.
The judge also set a status conference for April 30. Past court filings showed Smith and co-defendant William Whymark, the former IT director for Saint Francis, are negotiating a plea deal.
The two are accused of defrauding Saint Francis, the largest foster care contractor in Kansas, of at least $4.7 million.
Saint Francis hired Smith, who had been ordained as an Episcopal priest by the Diocese of Chicago, as president and CEO in 2014. Kansas Reflector first reported on allegations of misconduct by Smith and Whymark shortly after they left Saint Francis in November 2020.
Internal and external audits revealed excessive billing for IT services and charges by Smith for lavish personal expenses.