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KC bishop charged for not bringing porn to police
AP ^ | 10/14/2011 | By BILL DRAPER

Posted on 10/14/2011 7:01:15 PM PDT by Lazamataz

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City's Catholic bishop has become the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official indicted on a charge of failing to protect children after he and his diocese waited five months to tell police about hundreds of images of child pornography discovered on a priest's computer, officials said Friday.

Bishop Robert Finn, the first U.S. bishop criminally charged with sheltering an abusive clergyman, and the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese have pleaded not guilty on one count each of failing to report suspected child abuse.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said Finn and the diocese were required under state law to report the discovery to police because the images gave them reason to believe a child had been abused.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bishop; catholic; catholicschool; childabuse; finn; homosexualpriests; kiddyporn; pedophilia; priest; robertfinn
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To: One Name

“I wish every man could be as I am”. Paul’s word’s not good enough for you?


101 posted on 10/15/2011 3:29:35 AM PDT by BenKenobi (Honkeys for Herman! 10 percent is enough for God; 9 percent is enough for government)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Was it child porn?
The cover up of a crime is a crime itself.
Throw the book at the Bishop. Time for the RC to clean house and rid itself of these perverts and other vermin.


102 posted on 10/15/2011 4:09:22 AM PDT by Yorlik803 (better to die on your feet than live on your knees.)
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To: One Name
Just who granted you that Free Will?

That would be my parents. And you?

103 posted on 10/15/2011 4:24:45 AM PDT by elkfersupper (Member of the Original Defiant Class)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
I go to an independent evangelical church, in which many years ago the pastor found himself unexpectedly celibate after his wife passed away untimely of a fatal disease. It was a sad burden for the pastor and the church, who all loved the woman dearly and were grieved when she departed; however I believe from observation it had the unplanned (by man) effect of concentrating this pastor’s focus on the Lord. There is something to be said, I think, for pastoral singlehood if imposed by the Lord.

That is an excellent, excellent point. Thank you for sharing that story. I agree with you, and I like the name "pastoral singlehood"...I think that captures the essence of what Christian celibacy is meant to be.

Also, you are right about Episcopal converts, and it goes even farther than that. In the Eastern Catholic Churches (i.e. Ukranian Catholics, Maronites, etc.) parish priests are typically married.

104 posted on 10/15/2011 4:25:12 AM PDT by Claud
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To: dupree

Accessory after the fact? The archbishop was his superior, his employer, and in fact they had removed this guy from contact with children but they knew he still was around them. He should have been defrocked and restrained from any access to children at all but he was not.


105 posted on 10/15/2011 4:32:26 AM PDT by Mercat
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To: BenKenobi
“I wish every man could be as I am”. Paul’s word’s not good enough for you?

That is one way to rid the world of people - the Greens would love him.

106 posted on 10/15/2011 5:10:50 AM PDT by Cardhu
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To: Palladin
To: the invisib1e hand You must have been the kind of kid who, when caught with your hand in the cookie jar, pointed to your friend and said,”But...but...Mary Jane is doing it, too.”

The point (clearly) is: Hold everyone to the same standard.

You must have been the kind of kid who went to summer school.

107 posted on 10/15/2011 5:34:27 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand (...then they came for the guitars, and we kicked their sorry faggot asses into the dust)
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To: Cardhu
the Greens would love him.

The Greens (and every other band of demagogues) would love to twist his words while appealing to their authority.

In fact, it's the oldest play in the book.

108 posted on 10/15/2011 5:36:05 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand (...then they came for the guitars, and we kicked their sorry faggot asses into the dust)
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To: Cardhu

Paul goes on to say that every man has his gifts. :)

There’s a difference between arguing that celibacy is a gift and between arguing that it’s something reprehensible.


109 posted on 10/15/2011 5:49:14 AM PDT by BenKenobi (Honkeys for Herman! 10 percent is enough for God; 9 percent is enough for government)
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To: Lazamataz
I guess I’m here with this: The church brought the issue to police attention, and probably would have without the law.

The church did not bring it to the police attention Capt Smith forced them after they had lied to him about there being only one photo.

In fact, the church allowed Ratigan's brother to destroy the laptop. Fortunately, the computer technician had download the images to a flash drive.

"Smith said he was shocked in May when Murphy told him there had been hundreds of photos on Ratigan's laptop, rather than a single image. Smith demanded the computer be turned over to police, but since the computer had been turned over to Ratigan's family and destroyed, it handed over the flash drive instead."

However, now this good man, the Bishop, is being charged because he didn't do it on THEIR timetable.

His timetable was certainly a little off:

Finn acknowledged earlier this year that St. Patrick's School Principal Julie Hess had more than a year ago raised concerns that Ratigan was behaving inappropriately around children, but that he didn't read her written report until after Ratigan was charged with three state child pornography counts this spring.

Even though he had paid out 10 million to 47 plaintiffs and agreed to immediately report any suspected pedophile to the authorities - That letter from a Catholic school principal was ignored.

Even when a memo dated May 19, 2010, Hess wrote that several people had complained Ratigan was taking compromising pictures of young children and that he allowed them to sit on his lap and reach into his pocket for candy

This did not jog his memory to determine what was in the catholic school principal's memo even when, it was claimed, a verbal report had been made to him of the admonishment.

This lack of curiosity for allegations of disturbing behaviour around children and his cavalier attitude towards his promise to the court, is astonishing or unbelievable - take your pick.

110 posted on 10/15/2011 6:24:46 AM PDT by Cardhu
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To: One Name
What are the rules in your sect?
111 posted on 10/15/2011 7:25:42 AM PDT by starlifter (Pullum sapit)
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To: Lazamataz

If we were to go by the media, the Catholic Church is the only entity to ever be involved with child porn. The Church wil always be a target. I’ll bet the Bishop got indicted only because the KC-Saint Joe Diocese is broke.
I just don’t believe most of the stories. Did it happen? Yes. On the scale the media likes to trumpet? No. Did the Church try and cover it up? Yes, but I believe that it was because they were as horrified and confounded asthe parishioners were. And they simply didn’t know better.
Now Priests are vetted like cops, and are trained in spotting this sort of thing. This guy sound like a rotten apple that slipped through.
Just my opinion..


112 posted on 10/15/2011 7:46:09 AM PDT by cardinal4 (Pujols/Freese 2012)
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To: A.A. Cunningham

I agree with you completely that blaming priestly homosexuality or pedophilia on celibacy is idiotic. Though I disagree with the celibacy policy.

Most priests would presumably have little difficulty finding an adult woman to dally with, if only because I believe a lot of women would be turned on by the whole forbidden fruit thing. For those who couldn’t find freely given sex there are of course professionals available.

But a normal heterosexual man who can’t talk an adult woman into the sack doesn’t as a consequence turn to kids or other men. The only exception I’m aware of is situations such as prison where there ARE no women available.

While I’m no expert on Catholic dogma, I would assume the Church considers homosexual relations or child molestation a greater violation of the vows of celibacy than a consensual relationship with an adult woman.


113 posted on 10/15/2011 8:34:00 AM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: the invisib1e hand

That is definitely not a shocker! The teachers and faculty involved are usually just suspended “with” pay for “years” and eventually cut loose “quietly”. I don’t see that changing anytime soon either!


114 posted on 10/15/2011 9:03:12 AM PDT by Mrs. Frogjerk
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To: Lazamataz

If I ever run across cp on any computer at work, I will likely fire the individual responsible, but the absolute LAST thing I will EVER do is call the cops.

They do nothing but complicate and/or harm all parties/companies involved, regardless of whether they are innocent or guilty.


115 posted on 10/15/2011 9:58:20 AM PDT by Soothesayer9
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To: BenKenobi

Sorry but that quote sound arrogant, egotistical and a bit maniac. Almost like someone in the White House.


116 posted on 10/15/2011 10:02:22 AM PDT by Soothesayer9
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To: TheRevolution1776

What you “believe” about the Catholic Church is wrong.


117 posted on 10/15/2011 11:24:54 AM PDT by Maryhere ("HE comes to rule the earth")
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To: One Name

Jesus Christ was celibate.


118 posted on 10/15/2011 11:28:34 AM PDT by Maryhere ("HE comes to rule the earth")
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119 posted on 10/15/2011 11:31:35 AM PDT by RedMDer (Forward With Confidence!)
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To: Soothesayer9

It’s scripture and from Apostle Paul...


120 posted on 10/15/2011 1:20:51 PM PDT by BenKenobi (Honkeys for Herman! 10 percent is enough for God; 9 percent is enough for government)
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