KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
by Joshua J. McElwee on Jun. 15, 2012 NCR Today
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The latest pre-trial hearing in the first criminal case against a sitting bishop in the decades-long clergy sex abuse scandal was held Friday afternoon, with attorneys for Bishop Robert W. Finn and his diocese arguing with prosecutors mainly over issues of discovery.
Both Finn and his Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese face trial this September in Jackson County, Mo., over separate criminal misdemeanor charges of failure to report suspected child abuse concerning their actions regarding a priest arrested last year for possession of child pornography.
Friday’s hearing before Jackson County, Mo., Judge John Torrence concerned a number of motions filed by attorney’s in the cases over the past months.
Primarily before the court was a motion filed by prosecutors requesting discovery of a large number of diocesan files regarding its handling of a number of other priests who have been previously accused of sexual misconduct.
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