MISSOURI
St. Joseph News-Press
Kim Norvell
St. Joseph News-Press
On Twitter: @KimNorvell
A federal public defender has requested to delay a jury trial for a Catholic priest accused of sexually exploiting children.
Robert Kuchar filed a motion Wednesday to move the Rev. Shawn Ratigan’s federal trial to August, citing more than “1,000 pages of new discovery” recently handed over by the prosecution.
“Counsel needs additional time to finish reviewing the discovery and then to discuss the contents of the discovery with Mr. Ratigan,” the assistant federal public defender wrote in the motion. “In light of the additional discovery Counsel needs more time to conduct a complete investigation into the newly discovered material.”
Rev. Ratigan’s trial is currently scheduled for June 4 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Mr. Kuchar requested the case be moved to Aug. 27, which would be more than a year since Rev. Ratigan was indicted for 13 counts of sexual exploitation of minors and children.
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