1. Faulty Bishop Finn
Justin Overman
SOC-3730
12 Sept. 2012

2. Quick Facts:
• Bishop Robert W. Finn
• Roman Catholic Bishop
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Found guilty on 1 of 2 misdemeanor charges
of withholding information from the Diocese
and State regarding the suspected child sexual
abuse one of the Priests(Rev. Shawn Ratigan)
was performing.

3. Bishop Finn Rev. Shawn Ratigan
• Before After

4. Details
• In December 2010, Rev. Ratigan took his
laptop to get repairs, and the Technician
repairing it came across some pornographic
pictures of young girls’ genitals, both naked
and clothed.
• The technician then quickly told the Church’s
officials.
• Ratigan attempted suicide but survived and
taken in for treatment.

5. Back From Rehab
• Bishop Finn then puts Ratigan into a convent
with orders to stay away from children.
• Ratigan then continued to take lewd photos of
girls for another 5 months, until reported
again by church officials, against Bishop Finn’s
wishes.
• Bishop Finn is put on trial for withholding this
information regarding Ratigan.

6. Finn’s Finally
• On the two charges he faced regarding the
withheld knowledge about Ratigan, Finn is found
guilty on one.
• His punishment is to be put on Court Supervised
Probation for 2 years.
• A jury trial was set to be later this month, but last
Wednesday, the prosecution announced that it
would be decided in one afternoon before a
judge.
• This made it so the victims and their parents
would not have to testify.

7. Ratigan
• Ratigan pleaded guilty in August to the
Federal child pornography charges. He
admitted to taking pictures of girls he knew
over the years ranging from 2 to 9 years
old.
• Prosecutors will request for 15-30 years in
prison for Ratigan once sentencing takes
place.

8. • http://www.newsy.com/videos/bishop-
guilty-of-not-reporting-priest-child-abuse

9. Discussion Questions
• Do you think that Bishop Finn’s punishment
should have been worse?
• What do you think Rev. Ratigan’s sentence
should be?

10. • http://www.newsy.com/videos/bishop-guilty-
of-not-reporting-priest-child-abuse
• http://articles.boston.com/2012-09-
07/nation/33649532_1_jean-peters-baker-
pedophile-priest-bishop-robert-w-finn
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-
faith/judge-convicts-kansas-city-mo-bishop-
of-1-misdemeanor-for-failing-to-report-
abusive-priest/2012/09/06/32bb70a8-f886-
11e1-a93b-7185e3f88849_story_1.html
• New York Times