Bishop-Prosecutor Agree To Monthly Meetings On Child Abuse Evidence To Avoid Indictments

As previously reported, a Jackson County, Missouri grand jury last month indicted Catholic bishop Robert W. Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on misdemeanor charges growing out of their delay in reporting to authorities pornographic photos of girls found on a priest's laptop computer. The New York Times reported yesterday that now Bishop Finn has entered an agreement with the prosecuting attorney of neighboring Clay County to avoid indictment there as well. The bishop will meet monthly for the next five years with the prosecutor to report every suspicious episode in his diocese involving child abuse.  Finn will also visit each parish in Clay County to inform parishioners on how to report suspicious behavior. Victims' advocates criticized the agreement as ineffectual.