Finn's Guilt

By Mark Silk
Spiritual Politics
September 7, 2012

http://www.religionnews.com/blogs/mark-silk/finns-guilt

As I suspected, yesterday's bench trial conviction of Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn was a guilty plea in all but name. The "Stipulation of Testimony" presented by prosecution and defense to Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrance concludes by identifying the bishop as a "mandatory reporter" under Missouri Law, responsible for notifying civil authorities when there is "reasonable cause to suspect" one of his subordinates of child abuse.

By stipulating that, Finn gave up what would have been the cornerstone of his defense. Had a jury found that he was indeed a reporter (as the judge ruled in April was its business to decide), it would have had little choice but to convict.

Moreover, the requirements of Finn's two-year probationary sentence make clear that establishing reporting responsibility was precisely what Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker was aiming at. The first requirement is: "Ensuring 'mandated reporter' training for clergy and diocesan administrative staff, and instructing all teachers, counselors, clergy and other diocesan agents to report suspected crimes against children, as required by state law." The last: "Personally complying with mandated reporter laws."