KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCUR
By Frank Morris
The highest ranking US Catholic Church official ever to face criminal charges related to child sexual abuse is set to go to trial in Jackson County Circuit Court.
The case will be decided by a judge alone, not a jury, and could be over today.
Whose responsibility to alert officials?
Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph face charges of failing to report a priest who they knew had taken hundreds of lewd pictures of children. Two misdemeanor counts. Prosecutors say Bishop Finn was responsible for alerting state officials, but didn’t do it, until months after finding out about the photographs. Finn’s lawyers say that duty fell to a lower church official. That’s a key point of contention. The priest in question has already pleaded guilty to federal charges of producing child pornography. Many related civil suits are pending.
Bench trial avoids publicity, shields witnesses
Yesterday it came to light that lawyers and prosecutors had agreed to a one-day bench trial. Giving up a jury trial allows the diocese to avoid what would likely have been a solid week of bad publicity, and from having to find a pool of unbiased jurors. It shields witnesses from having to testify in public.
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