Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker Addresses Priest's Claims in Bishop Finn Resignation

KSHB
May 7, 2015

http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/jackson-county-prosecutor-jean-peters-baker-addresses-reverends-claims-in-bishop-finn-resignation

[with video]

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker fired back after Fr. Gregory Lockwood wrote a letter to his parish at Christ the King Church claiming charges against the now-resigned Bishop Robert Finn were politically motivated.

Baker sent a letter to the temporary Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese leader Archbishop Joseph Naumann and Christ the King parish.

In it, she says Fr. Lockwood is spreading lies about her and Bishop Finn.

“As your prosecutor, I am guided by this truth: No one is above the law, no matter our position or title. Children especially need this to be true, and abused children’s lives may depend upon it,” Baker wrote.

She also said everyone has a moral duty to report abuse.

Bishop Finn was convicted in 2012 for failing to report suspected child abuse by another priest. He stepped down as diocese leader in April.

Fr. Lockwood blames Finn’s critics, not the scandal, for his resignation. He claimed Finn pleaded no contest to the charges to prevent a painful, public trial.

Baker said that’s not true. She said a judge heard the facts and found him guilty.

Archbishop Naumann, Finn’s temporary replacement, said in a statement, “There is nothing to be gained by picking at old wounds and speaking unkind about one another.”