The News-Press
May 20, 2011
http://www.newspressnow.com/localnews/27969456/detail.html
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| Shawn F. Ratigan |
The bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese released a statement Friday saying that he “deeply regrets” not asking police to conduct a full investigation into the Rev. Shawn F. Ratigan sooner.
“I deeply regret that we didn’t ask the police earlier to conduct a full investigation,” the Most Rev. Robert W. Finn, bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, said in the statement. “Shawn Ratigan was a popular priest who had a large network of friends, and was media savvy. Many parents have called with deep concerns about their children who knew and trusted him.”
Read Bishop Finn's full statement
The bishop said that Ratigan was placed in psychiatric care and was then restricted from having access to children after the images came to light in December. The bishop’s letter said that church authorities contacted law enforcement this spring, after Ratigan appeared at events where children were present.
The priest was charged in Kansas City this week with three counts of child pornography after police found pornographic images on his church and personal computers.
The bishop said he contacted Kansas City (Mo.) police, as well as legal counsel, once images of children were found on Ratigan’s computer in December. According to court documents, those images included “up-skirt pictures that were covertly taken,” as well as a nude photo of a minor female.
“In both instances we were told that, while very troubling, the photographs did not constitute child pornography as they did not depict sexual conduct or contact,” the bishop’s statement reads.
In December, Ratigan attempted suicide and was found unconscious in his garage in Kansas City, according to court documents. He was sent to a hospital psychiatric unit and then to psychiatric evaluation out of state, the bishop said.
Church authorities restricted Ratigan from participating in any event where children were present, the bishop said in the statement. When Ratigan returned from psychiatric care, he began living in an adjoining property to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Eucharist in Independence, where he helped with Mass.
In March, the bishop said he received reports that Ratigan attended a St. Patrick’s Day parade, as well as a child’s birthday party, which violated his conditions.
Kansas City police were again contacted after Ratigan “continued to disregard these requirements,” and an investigation was launched. Kansas City police reviewed evidence that the bishop said were never in the diocese’s possession and did not know existed.
Ratigan, who served at St. Mary Church in St. Joseph from 2005 to 2009, is being held on a $200,000 cash bond on three charges of possession of child pornography.
Anyone who has concerns or questions are asked to call Det. Maggie McGuire at (816) 584-6633.
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