KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
Nicholas Sciarappa | Jul. 3, 2014
KANSAS CITY, MO. Survivors of clerical child sex abuse and their allies are demanding that the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese drop its appeal against an arbitration ruling that it pay victims of clergy sex abuse $1.1 million for breaching an agreement in a 2008 sex abuse settlement.
David Clohessy, executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), led a group of abuse survivors outside the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Chancery Wednesday, blasting Bishop Robert Finn for disputing the ruling of arbitrator Hollis Hanover.
Clohessy said the breach of contract suit was the first of its kind. According to Clohessy, no other survivors have checked in on previous legal agreements, found a breach of contract, and sought arbitration. He called it a huge victory for survivors of clerical sex abuse.
The suit was filed as a result of the case surrounding Shawn Ratigan, a former Kansas City priest convicted of child pornography charges. The diocese failed to report to authorities suspicions that Ratigan possessed pornographic pictures of children for nearly five months after diocese officials were alerted to suspect images on the priest’s computer in early 2010. In September 2012, Finn was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of failing to report suspected child abuse and under a two year suspended sentence in Jackson County, Mo.
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