Bishop Robert Finn testified Friday before a Jackson County grand jury, dramatically raising the profile of an investigation focused on how the Catholic diocese handled child sexual abuse issues.
Finn, who leads the 134,000-member Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, is the highest church official to appear before the grand jury.
The panel has been meeting periodically over the last month, since federal authorities leveled child pornography charges against the Rev. Shawn Ratigan.
With Finn’s appearance, at least five top diocesan administrators or advisers have appeared before the panel.
A recent internal investigation showed that church officials knew for five months about troubling photos of young girls on Ratigan’s computer and did not formally notify police or state child abuse authorities. Under Missouri law, clergy must report any suspected child abuse.
Finn, wearing a black suit and clerical collar, entered the Jackson County Criminal Justice Center through the main doors shortly after 8:15 a.m. and began testifying about 9:55 a.m. He left about 1 p.m.
“We’re doing the best we can to cooperate with law enforcement,” Finn said after testifying.
Finn agreed to give jurors any information they requested, said one of the four attorneys who accompanied him into the justice center.
“He’s hoping to move this matter along so he can get back to his ministry,” lawyer Gerald Handley said.
Criminal defense lawyer John P. O’Connor, who represents Ratigan, also was in the building Friday morning, though he declined to comment on his business there.
Jonathan Haden, a lawyer who counseled Finn and the diocese on Ratigan, also appeared before the grand jury, accompanied by former U.S. Attorney Jean Paul Bradshaw, a colleague of Haden’s at the Lathrop & Gage law firm. Haden, who also has represented The Kansas City Star, declined to comment as he left.
The grand jury witness lineup confirms that the inquiry is focused more on the conduct of diocesan officials than that of Ratigan.
Among those testifying last month was Monsignor Robert Murphy, the diocese’s second-in-command who came under fire for the way he handled the Ratigan case.
Murphy, who was named vicar general when Finn took over as bishop in 2005, until recently had handled the diocese’s sex abuse complaints against priests and was on a diocesan review board that assesses allegations against priests and makes recommendations to the bishop.
In June, the bishop replaced Murphy in his role of handling complaints against priests and removed him from the review board.
The action came two weeks after The Star reported that Murphy had been accused of past sexual improprieties.
The diocese has said those claims were unfounded.
Others who have testified for the grand jury include diocesan spokeswoman Rebecca Summers and a Kansas City police captain whose opinion diocesan officials sought on a photo that Ratigan allegedly took. The captain also serves on the diocese’s review board.
The diocese has said it contacted a police officer in December and described “one of the more disturbing images” from Ratigan’s computer, asking whether it constituted child porn, and the officer said it did not.
Police later confirmed that the officer was Capt. Richard Smith, but said that he was told only about one photo and was not made aware that other, more graphic images were on Ratigan’s computer.
Diocesan officials have come under sharp criticism for failing to take immediate action when concerns were raised about Ratigan’s behavior.
In May 2010, the principal of a Catholic school complained to the diocese about what she described as Ratigan’s inappropriate actions around children. But other than counseling Ratigan to moderate his conduct, his church superiors took little substantial action.
In December, diocesan authorities found what prosecutors later alleged was child pornography on Ratigan’s computer.
The church relieved him of his duties as pastor of a Northland church and assigned him to live at an Independence mission house. While there, according to a federal indictment,he allegedly attempted to take pornographic photos of a 12-year-old girl.
Ratigan was charged in Clay County in May with three counts of possession of child pornography. Federal grand jurors later indicted him on 13 counts of production, attempted production and possession of child porn.
After Ratigan’s arrest, Finn publicly apologized for his handling of the case.
Earlier this month, a diocese-commissioned investigation found that diocesan leaders failed to follow their own policies and procedures in responding to reports of child sexual abuse.
The investigation found that “individuals in positions of authority reacted to events in ways that could have jeopardized the safety of children in diocesan parishes, schools and families.”
Todd Graves, a former U.S. Attorney who led the study, said at the time: “Our investigation identified shortcomings, inaction and confusing procedures, but we believe Bishop Finn and the leadership of the diocese understand the gravity of the issues and take these recommendations seriously.”
The diocese released the findings in a 141-page report compiled by Graves’ law firm, which Finn hired in June to evaluate how the diocese handles allegations against priests.
Finn called the recommendations “comprehensive, thoughtful and detailed.”
“We understand their importance and are focusing on them so we establish clear, strong and unequivocal procedures for all diocesan personnel and volunteers that ensure the safety of our children today and into the future,” the bishop said in a statement when the report was released.
Catholic officials have been the subjects of criminal investigations involving child sexual abuse cases in other states.
In 2006, a Catholic bishop in northern California was threatened with misdemeanor criminal charges for waiting several days to report allegations of sexual abuse against a priest in his diocese after the priest admitted the abuses to him.
The priest fled to Mexico before being charged with sexual abuse.
Bishop Daniel Walsh of the Diocese of Santa Rosa agreed to enroll in a diversion counseling program in lieu of facing criminal charges. Walsh resigned as bishop in June, a year short of his mandatory retirement at age 75.
And in Philadelphia, a grand jury released a report in February saying it found that 37 accused priests still were working around children in Catholic parishes.
The grand jury harshly criticized the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for failing to fully investigate claims of misconduct against priests and recommended charges against a monsignor who was the former head of the archdiocese’s clergy office.
Monsignor William J. Lynn has been ordered to stand trial on a charge of conspiracy to endanger the welfare of children.
The monsignor is the highest-ranking diocesan official in the nation to face criminal prosecution for allegedly covering up the sexual abuse of minors by priests.