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	Diocese Responds to Criticism of Investigation By Judy L. Thomas Kansas City Star July 13, 2011 http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/13/3012043/diocese-responds-to-criticism.html The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph says an activist group’s call for the bishop to fire an attorney hired to investigate its handling of priest sexual abuse cases is out of line. Last month, Bishop Robert Finn appointed Todd Graves, a former U.S. attorney for Western Missouri, to evaluate how the diocese handles allegations against priests, including the case of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who was charged in May with possessing child pornography. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said this week that a recent mail solicitation by Graves’ law firm raised questions about whether the investigation would be thorough and objective. “There is no basis for SNAP to impugn the integrity of the independent investigation commissioned by Bishop Finn or that of Todd Graves individually,” diocesan spokeswoman Rebecca Summers said in a statement in response to a news release issued Tuesday by the group. “Mr. Graves has a long record of public service in this community, as a former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and a U.S. Department of Justice child exploitation expert,” Summers said. “SNAP’s statements will be seen as baseless by reasonable people of any faith.” SNAP executive director David Clohessy had called attention to a mailing by Graves’ firm. The mailing says, “Under Investigation?” and adds that “if you believe your individual or company client may be facing a government investigation, protect the person, protect the brand…” Clohessy said the mailing was inappropriate. “It is sad when a man who postures as a ‘public servant’ exploits that experience and sells himself to the highest bidder,” Clohessy said in a statement. “But the real fault here isn’t with Graves. It is with Bishop Finn and his colleagues who continue to act deceptively.” Clohessy said Finn has been obsessed with “protecting the brand” instead of protecting children. Graves said the concerns were baseless and that the investigation would be scrupulous. “There are no constraints on what we’re doing,” he said. “At this point, we’ve asked for some pretty tough things, and we have not felt any resistance in providing us full access.” Graves said he expects the investigation to be completed by mid-August. “If anyone has any concern that there’s information that we might not look at or be privy to, we’re happy to meet with them, or they can send us an anonymous email telling us where to look,” he said. “There’s no information that we’re unwilling to consider.” To reach Judy L. Thomas, call 816-234-4334 or send email to jthomas@kcstar.com
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