source - postbulletin.com
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker made headlines around the world with her press conference Friday in Kansas City charging a Roman Catholic bishop with failing to report child abuse.
Bishop Robert W. Finn and the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph have been indicted by a grand jury for alleging withholding information of a priest accused of taking pornographic photographs of girls as recently as this year. Finn waited six months to report Rev. Shawn Ratigan who is now in custody and awaiting trial in federal court.
The indictment of a U.S. bishop appears to be without precedent, said John Allen, CNN’s senior Vatican analyst. “Clearly, it indicates two things,” he said. “There is a new willingness to go after the highest officials in the church and hold them accountable.”
Peters Baker, a former Missouri state representative, was appointed to fill a special vacancy for Jackson County Prosecutor in Kansas City this past May. GO TO STORY.