KANSAS CITY (MO)
WGEM
Posted: Sep 05, 2012
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Jackson County prosecutors and attorneys for Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph have agreed to have a judge hear their case weeks before their scheduled jury trial date.
Finn and the diocese are each charged with a misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse to the state. The charges stem from the Rev. Shawn Ratigan’s child porn case, in which church officials knew about photos on the priest’s computer but didn’t turn him in until six months later.
Finn has argued that he was not the diocese’s mandated reporter. He and the diocese also have challenged the constitutionality of the reporting law.
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