Bishop Finn, diocese, indicted
The Jackson County prosecutor's office announced a misdemeanor charges Friday afternoon against Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
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A Jackson County grand jury has indicted Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on misdemeanor charges of failure to report child abuse.
The charges, announced at a news conference today, make Finn — leader of the 134,000-member diocese — the highest-ranking Catholic official in the nation to face criminal prosecution in a child sexual abuse case.
The charges stemmed from the long-simmering controversy surrounding the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who is facing child pornography charges in Clay County and federal court.
“This is a significant charge,” said Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. “To my knowledge, a charge like this has not been leveled before.”
In a statement, the diocese said its lawyers entered a plea of not guilty for the diocese. According to Gerald Handley and J.R. Hobbs, lawyers for Bishop Finn, the bishop also entered a plea of not guilty.
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/14/3207527/bishop-finn-diocese-indicted.html#ixzz1anMfYLqm
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and read more here. I found this article to be a bit more informative of the things that led to this point:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/bishop-finn-indicted-by-a-kansas-city-grand-jury?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NCRegisterDailyBlog+National+Catholic+Register#When:2011-10-15
Bishop Finn and all those in the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph will be in my prayers.
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