KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star
By JUDY L. THOMAS and MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star
Kansas City Bishop Robert W. Finn and the diocese he serves will appear in court Thursday for a bench trial on charges they failed to report suspicions of child abuse.
The unusual move, made public this afternoon in a court filing, will take a decision on their guilt out of the hands of a jury, and it avoids a lengthy trial that was to begin Sept. 24. The action also spares diocesan employees and victims and their families from testifying.
Prosecutors and lawyers representing Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are sorting through a series of facts about the case, a spokesman for Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said.
“This means that all the parties in the case — the diocese, Bishop Finn and the prosecutor’s office — are negotiating what the facts and testimony will be,” said Mike Mansur. “Those will be presented to the judge.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.