Despite guilty verdict, Bishop Finn ‘grateful’ for end of trial
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A Kansas judge has convicted Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph on one misdemeanor count of failure to report suspected child abuse and acquitted him on another count, while charges against the diocese have been dismissed.
“I regret and am sorry for the hurt that these events have caused,” Bishop Finn said in a Sept. 6 statement provided to CNA.
“The protection of children is paramount. Sexual abuse of any kind will not be tolerated.”
The bishop pledged to take “every reasonable step” to protect children from abuse and misconduct committed by clergy, diocesan employees or volunteers.
In spite of the guilty verdict, Bishop Finn said he is “pleased and grateful” that the court and prosecutor “allowed this matter to be concluded.”
Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrence convicted the bishop during a short non-jury trial Sept. 6. He sentenced the bishop to two years of probation and suspended the sentence. The bishop’s criminal record will be expunged if he completes a period of unsupervised probation without any new criminal incidents.
Prosecutors had sought two years of probation, while defense attorneys asked for the sentence to be suspended. The maximum penalty for the guilty verdict is a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Bishop Finn is the first American bishop and the highest ranking U.S. Catholic clergyman to be found guilty in an abuse case.
The trial concerned the bishop’s and the diocese’s response to the case of Father Shawn Ratigan. A technician found numerous lewd images of children, mostly prepubescent girls, on the priest’s laptop. He informed a deacon who reported the find to diocesan officials on Dec. 16, 2010.
The priest attempted suicide on Dec. 17 of that year after diocesan officials informed him that they had discovered some of the images. [More]
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10 Comments
Bishop Finn consulted an expert, Dr. Fitzgibbons, who told him the priest in question was safe. Why would anyone think the bishop would contradict the expert? That is why you hire experts. So, all of you CINOs judge the bishop unjustly — but anyone familiar with your history of posting would not be surprised by that.
Such a bogus excuse. The Bishops have used that one way too many times. You have proven yet again that you are the fraud. Different rules for different people. If the Nuns oon the bus had hidden some type of abuse you would want them stored away in the deepest darkest dungeon. But because this is someone you agree with – just ignore it. Or is it that you are in favor of allowing people to abuse children. Your defense of so many who have hurt children makes one wonder if this is perhaps your motive.
That’s it, Concerned — I am in favor of abusing children. This website has opened my eyes to the rampant irrationality of other humans. It is a shame, because these irrational humans will be voting for the president of the USA in short order — and I am on the boat with these irrational others (including you). You truly cannot think straight. I have adequately defeneded my position re: bishop Finn in a recent prior response to you, so I won’t repeat it here. Again, I marvel — but am really disappointed — at the venom and irrationality I find on this blog. So, why do I keep posting? As I’ve expressed before, this is just a very interesting study for me — the irrationality of others. They say you can’t convince a psychotic person that their delusions aren’t real, and I believe that. But, I’ve since learned that the delusions of presumably non-psychotic people such as yourself also are intractable.
ah the little man with no real argument who has to resort to phony name calling and those tired old cliches. Acusing others of his own faults. They have no power over me – you have no power over me – you have no power over others. The power you seek is evident in your postings. Poor, poor little man.
Crucify Him! Crucify Him!!!
No cricifixion – just let the same rules apply to him as he would do to everyone else.
People should flood Trish Peters at tpeters@diocesekcsj.org or 816-756-1850 (she is the Protection Officer for t he Diocese of Kansas City, St Joe) with email and phone calls stating that the Bishop violates the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. See if the rules apply to the Bishops who created the Charter.
Concerned thak you for pointing this out, let’s see if it does indeed apply to all who minister in the church. I hope it does
Bishop Finn can no longer meet the requirements of the Charter for the Protection of Children. A background check will reveal that he has been convicted of a crime. A volunteer would be disqualified as being capable of serving in any volunteer capacity of the church if a background check revealed the ssame thing. Now let’s see how sincere the hierarchy of the church is – one set of policies for the big shot and another for everyone else? Or will they do the right thing and apply it equally to all? Time will tell.
In mounting his defense to these charges and his own despicable behaviour, Robert Finn has disqualified himself from any further service as a bishop. He belongs in a setting where he can spend his remaining days in penance and prayer, for the victims in his former diocese and elsewhere. The sooner le leaves, the better.