KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kanas City Star
By MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star
A lawyer representing a Catholic priest charged with producing child pornography today asked a Kansas City federal judge to delay the trial until August.
If granted, the continuance would put trial dates for the Rev. Shawn Ratigan and his boss, Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, within a month of each other.
Ratigan is charged with 12 federal felony counts relating to the possession and production of child pornography. Finn is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with misdemeanor failure to report suspicions of child abuse for the six-month delay in reporting Ratigan to child welfare authorities after church officials learned of lewd photographs on the priest’s laptop.
Finn’s trial currently is scheduled to open Sept. 24.
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