The New York Times reports that Robert Finn, the theologically conservative Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, has been indicted for failure to report suspected child abuse.
This is the first time that a Catholic bishop or a diocese has been indicted, and surely marks a new chapter in accountability for sexual abuse by priests and other Roman Catholic religious.
Bishop Finn, who is affiliated with the conservative movement Roman Catholic movement Opus Dei, allegedly failed to report abuse that occurred last year.
His failure is contrary not only to a pledge by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to report suspected abusers to law enforcement authorities, but also to undertakings contained in a 2008 settlement agreement concerning lawsuits with 47 plaintiffs in sexual abuse cases. In addition to agreeing to pay $10 million to the plaintiffs, the Bishop agreed to a implement preventive measures and to immediately report to law enforcement authorities anyone suspected of being a pedophile.
The bishop has acknowledged that, since December of 2010, he knew of the existence of photographs of children that had been in the possession of a priest of the diocese, Rev. Shawn Ratigan. The photographs suggested that the priest had a sexual interest in children. The bishop did not turn the photographs over to the police until May.
The photographs, on the priest's laptop, numbered in the hundreds. They included one of a child's vagina, up-skirt images, and images focused on children's the crotches.
In May 2010, the principal of a Catholic school complained to the diocese about what she described as Ratigan’s inappropriate actions around children. Other than counseling Ratigan to moderate his conduct, however, his church supervisors took little substantial action.
In December, diocesan officials found what prosecutors later alleged was child pornography on Ratigan’s computer. The diocese said it contacted a police officer and described “one of the more disturbing images” from Ratigan’s computer, asking whether it constituted child porn, and the officer said it did not. Police later confirmed that the officer was Capt. Richard Smith, but said that he was told only about one photo and was not made aware that other, more graphic images were stored on Ratigan’s computer.
Kansas City Star
The indictment had been under seal for several days while the Bishop was out of the country.
The bishop and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph were each charged with a single misdemeanor count.
Bishop Finn has pled not guilty. Lawyers did likewise for the diocese.
Bishop Finn issued a statement saying that he and the diocese will defend themselves against the charges.
Father Ratigan was arrested in May and charged by a grand jury of taking indecent photographs of young girls, including during an Easter egg hunt last spring.
The case has generated outrage and demands that the bishop resign. There is a Facebook page called Bishop Finn Must Go. The Kansas City Star has called on the bishop to resign. Its latest editorial is here.
Bishop Finn was appointed in 2005. He has aggressively promoted his traditionalist theological views.