KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., and its bishop have been indicted on misdemeanor charges of failure to report child abuse for five months.
The grand jury indictments, announced Friday, make Bishop Robert Finn the highest-ranking Catholic official in the United States to face criminal prosecution in a child sex abuse case, The Kansas City Star reported.
The indictment stated Finn and the diocese did not report the discovery of hundreds of photographs of children on the laptop of a priest, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, between Dec. 16, 2010, and May 11, 2011, when a diocesan official reported them to police. The Star said the photos included images of a child's naked vagina and so-called upskirt pictures focusing on the child's crotch.
Under state law, clergy are required to report child abuse when they suspect it.
KCUR-FM, Kansas City, reported the photos were discovered when the priest's laptop was sent for repairs and a technician told the diocese of them. Ratigan faces child pornography charges in Clay County and federal court.
The Star reported the 134,000-member diocese said in a statement its lawyers entered a not-guilty plea for the diocese and lawyers for Finn said the bishop also entered a plea of not guilty.
If convicted, Finn faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, the diocese, a $5,000 fine.
"This is a significant charge," Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said. "To my knowledge, a charge like this has not been leveled before."
The Rev. Thomas J. Reese -- senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and author of "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church" -- said it's "absolutely extraordinary" for a bishop to be indicted.
"This is a first. And in terms of the Catholic Church, this is an extraordinary move which is going to signal that the times have changed," Reese said. "Neither people nor government are going to put up with any kind of activity that looks like a coverup."
The diocese's own recent investigation found church officials knew of disturbing photos of young girls on Ratigan's computer but did not formally notify police or state child abuse authorities for five months, the Star said.
The grand jury had issued a sealed indictment Oct.6 but Finn was out of the country and did not return until late Thursday, Baker said.
