Missouri Bishop Indicted for Not Reporting Child Molesting Priest, by Bridgette P. Lavictoire, Lez Get Real, October 15, 2011

Missouri Bishop Indicted for Not Reporting Child Molesting Priest

By Bridgette P. Lavictoire
Lez Get Real
October 15, 2011

http://lezgetreal.com/2011/10/missouri-bishop-indicted-for-not-reporting-child-molesting-priest/

The indictment of Bishop Robert W Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri is a first. He has been indicted for failing to report suspected child abuse. Both Finn and the diocese were charged with one misdemeanor count stemming from a priest accused of taking pornographic photographs of girls as recently as this year. They have pled not guilty.

Catholics in Kansas City were angry when it was revealed that Bishop Finn knew of the photographs as early as last December, but did nothing to alert the police until May of this year. In that six month period of time, Reverend Shawn Ratigan continued to take lewd photos of girls and attended church events with children. This was despite the fact that the American bishops had pledged to report suspected abusers to law enforcement quickly.

Victims' advocates hailed the indictment as a breakthrough, though. So far, American bishops have avoided prosecution even though there was proof of them being involved in the coverup.

Michael Hunter, the director of the Kansas City chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, stated "This is huge for us. It's something that I personally have been waiting for years to see, some real accountability. We're very pleased with the prosecuting attorney here to have the guts to do it."

Of course, Finn believes that he has done nothing wrong and has vowed to fight the charges saying "We will meet these announcements with a steady resolve and a vigorous defense."

Jean Peters Baker, the Jackson County Prosecutor, said that the case was not religiously motivated, but that this was because the bishop was obligated to report the abuse under the law. She stated "This is about protecting children." She could not go into details because of the grand jury secrecy rules. Finn could face up to a $1000 fine and one year in jail while the diocese could be fined up to $5000.

The New York Times reported that:

It also may not mark the end of the legal troubles facing the diocese in the case, which includes civil and criminal cases in federal court. Last month Bishop Finn and Msgr. Robert Murphy testified before another grand jury in neighboring Clay County. A spokesman for the prosecutor's office there declined to comment.

The priest accused of taking the lewd photos, Father Ratigan, was a frequent presence in a Catholic elementary school next to his parish. The principal there sent a letter to the diocese in May 2010 complaining about Father Ratigan's behavior with children. Then, last December, a computer technician discovered the photos on the priest's laptop and turned the computer in to the diocese. A day later Father Ratigan tried to kill himself. The diocese said that Monsignor Murphy described — but did not share — a single photo of a young girl, nude from the waist down, to a police officer who served on an independent sexual abuse review board for the diocese. The officer said that based on the description it might meet the definition of child pornography, but he did not think it would, the diocese said.

Bishop Finn sent Father Ratigan to live in a convent and told him to avoid contact with minors. But until May the priest attended children's parties, spent weekends in the homes of parish families, hosted an Easter egg hunt and presided, with the bishop's permission, at a girl's First Communion, according to interviews with parishioners and a civil lawsuit filed by a victim's family.

While the Catholic Church is busy trying desperately to hold onto some semblance of privilege, the world is busy saying to them- butt out you child molester protectors.