KANSAS CITY (MO)
Pitch
Posted by Steve Vockrodt on Thu, Sep 12, 2013
Shawn Ratigan spent part of his freedom using his role as a priest in the Catholic Church to help him victimize five young children.
Given that he’s 47 years old, his 50-year sentence handed down on Thursday means he’s probably seen the last of life outside the four walls of a prison cell. The disgraced priest has no opportunity for parole.
The Independence man was the parish pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Kansas City as well as St. Mary’s Church in St. Joseph and St. Joseph’s church in Easton, Missouri. He admitted guilt in 2012 to several child pornography-related charges brought about by his habit of taking sexually explicit photos of young children, who ranged in age from two to 12, after gaining their trust as a member of the church. Beyond the five victims that prosecutors know about, Ratigan was also found to be taking surreptitious non-sexual photos of young children in their bathing suits and at places like the grocery store.
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