The Kansas City Star reported that on Tuesday the Kansas City-St. Joseph (MO) Catholic Diocese has agreed to settle a child pornography lawsuit filed against it, Bishop Robert Finn and Catholic priest Shawn Ratigan, for $600,000. The suit was brought by parents of a girl who claimed that Ratigan took sexually explicit photos of the girl when she was 2 years old, and distributed them over the Internet. Ratigan plead guilty to child pornography charges last year, and is awaiting sentence. Bishop Finn was found guilty last year on misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspicion of child abuse. (See prior posting.)
In the civil suit settled this week, the only claim the court permitted to move ahead was one alleging that Bishop Finn and the diocese possessed child pornography by viewing and making copies of Ratigan's photos. The court must still approve the structure of the settlement, which will be covered by insurance. The diocese has been named in dozens of priest sexual abuse lawsuits, including three others involving Ratigan.
