Bishop's Conviction Could Compound Legal Problems for Kansas City Diocese
By Judy L. Thomas
The legal arena has become a sort of second home to the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese — but hardly a sanctuary. Bishop Robert Finn's criminal misdemeanor conviction this past summer for failing to report suspected child abuse involving the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, analysts say, could dramatically undercut the diocese's defense against mounting civil lawsuits. More than two dozen pending cases allege offenses ranging from sexual abuse by priests to wrongful death. The Ratigan case triggered a new wave of litigation. "Now that Bishop Finn has (been convicted), the diocese is at absolute risk," said Patrick Wall, a canon lawyer and former Roman Catholic priest who has worked on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victims for a decade. This is only the latest surge of lawsuits charging that church leaders covered up sexual abuse by priests in the diocese. This bunch follows past assurances of reform. Consequently, some analysts see ballooning liability and potentially crippling judgments. In 2008, the diocese paid a $10 million settlement to 47 victims and their families who filed lawsuits involving 12 current or former priests. That settlement pointedly included a pledge to follow mandatory state reporting requirements and diocesan guidelines to report suspected sexual abuse of minors to law enforcement. Finn's recent guilty verdict, experts say, could be offered as evidence that the diocese didn't live up to its promise. That conviction, they say, could hamper the diocese even more. "If you've been convicted of something very closely related to what the allegations are in the lawsuits, then it's certainly possible that it could be used as leverage by the plaintiffs in aiming toward a settlement," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Last October, after the bishop was indicted for failing to report Ratigan, most of the plaintiffs in the 2008 settlement filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the diocese. They alleged that the diocese and Finn failed to live up to some of the settlement's critical terms. They asked a judge to force the diocese into arbitration to ensure that it complied with the reforms agreed upon just three years earlier. In June, a judge granted that request. If an arbitrator rules that the diocese violated the 2008 settlement, experts say, liability could skyrocket. Already, the diocese's lawsuits and legal costs have piled up. Finn's defense in the criminal case alone cost nearly $1.4 million in the 12-month period ending June 30. A diocesan spokesman said that he could not discuss specifics of the lawsuits but that 26 cases are pending against the diocese, all but four filed since Ratigan's arrest in May 2011. Of those, the diocese said, 22 involve allegations of clergy sexual misconduct with minors. Two involve allegations of misconduct with non-minors. One is an employment claim. Then there's the reopening of the 2008 settlement. The diocese said 18 of the 22 clergy misconduct cases involve allegations of incidents that occurred decades ago. The remaining four involve Ratigan. And 17 of the 18 older misconduct cases involve claims that the plaintiffs recovered their memories recently or developed coping mechanisms that suspended the statutes of limitation, the diocese said. The diocese will probably be tangled up in lawsuits for years to come. Kansas City attorney Rebecca Randles said she represents about a dozen Ratigan victims — four of whom have filed lawsuits so far — with more cases in the works. That could mean more hefty legal expenses for the diocese. In September, the diocese released a report containing financial details for the Diocesan Property and Casualty Insurance Program for the fiscal year ending June 30. In addition to its expense for Finn's criminal proceedings, the diocese spent nearly $2 million in legal fees for sex abuse lawsuits, including $287,000 on the four suits involving Ratigan. The diocese has filed motions to dismiss all of the lawsuits filed since last year. But so far, its efforts have had little success. The diocese was dropped from two lawsuits after arguing that the alleged abuse did not occur on church property. But the priests remain as defendants, represented by their own attorneys, and the suits are moving forward. One case has been dismissed against all defendants, including the diocese, and decisions haven't yet been issued on an additional half dozen cases. The most recent rulings have come on cases involving former altar boys at an Independence parish. Last month, a judge denied the diocese's motions to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Jon David Couzens that alleged sexual abuse by Monsignor Thomas O'Brien and a lawsuit filed by Joe Eldred alleging abuse by O'Brien and two other priests. In the meantime, the diocese battles a wrongful-death lawsuit rooted in a sexual abuse case. Don and Rosemary Teeman sued O'Brien and the diocese in September 2011 after Couzens, who served as an altar boy with their son, Brian, told them of the alleged abuse. Brian Teeman, 14, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in November 1983 at the family's home in Independence. The diocese and O'Brien filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that too much time had passed because the statute of limitations for wrongful death is three years in Missouri. "Plaintiffs had three years from the date of Teeman's death — until November 1, 1986 — to file this action against the Diocese," the motion argued. "Plaintiffs commenced this action for their son's death on September 6, 2011, which is 25 years too late." But in his order, the judge validated the Teemans' argument that the statute of limitations should be suspended because of the diocese's "fraudulent concealment" of O'Brien's alleged abuse of their son and other children. Diocese lawyers appealed to the Missouri Court of Appeals and lost. Then they appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court. And lost. The Teeman case is but one of many cases the diocese simply has not been able to make go away. Contact: jthomas@kcstar.com
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