TONY RIZZO AND JUDY L. THOMAS
Kansas City Star
August 2, 2012
As a priest, he absolved others of their sins in the anonymity of the confessional.
This afternoon, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan stood in the very public forum of a federal courtroom and confessed to some of his own.
Ratigan, 46, pleaded guilty to using five girls to produce or attempt to produce child pornography over several years while serving as pastor to congregations in the Northland and St. Joseph.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison. Prosecutors are expected to argue later for a sentence that ensures that Ratigan spends a significant portion of the rest of his life behind bars.
Beyond damage done to the victims and their families, the case has roiled the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in controversy and litigation over how church officials responded to Ratigan’s crimes.
While civil and criminal cases remain pending against Bishop Robert Finn and the diocese, Thursday’s hearing in U.S. District Court in Kansas City focused on Ratigan’s long-standing obsession with taking disturbing photographs of children.
The victims, identified in court documents as Jane Does 1 through 5, ranged in age from 2 to 9 when photographed.
Jane Doe 1 was 6 in June 2005 when Ratigan posed her with her legs spread and panties pulled to one side, according to court documents.
A repair technician discovered that photograph on Ratigan’s laptop computer in December 2010. At that time, the computer was “turned over to agents for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph,” according to court documents.
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In May 2006, Ratigan photographed 2-year-old Jane Doe 2 with her vagina exposed at St. Joseph’s Church in Easton, Mo., the court documents state.
The third count Ratigan pleaded guilty to Thursday involved Jane Doe 3. She was 5 in 2007 when Ratigan took photographs of her naked pubic region, court documents say.
Jane Doe 4 was 7 in July 2009 when Ratigan, without her knowledge, took “close-up” photographs of her crotch area while she wore a bathing suit, according to the court documents.
The final victim, Jane Doe 5, was asleep, court documents allege, when Ratigan pulled down her pants and photographed her. That happened sometime between August 2008 and September 2009 when she 8 or 9.
In exchange for the guilty pleas to five felony counts, prosecutors dismissed eight other charges that involved different incidents with the same victims.
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Thursday’s guilty pleas do not resolve Ratigan’s legal troubles.
He is charged in Clay County Circuit Court with three felony counts of possessing child pornography. Prosecutors there said they plan to move forward with that case once the federal case is completed.
Finn and the diocese are facing trial in Jackson County Circuit Court on misdemeanor criminal counts alleging that they failed to follow the Missouri law that mandates the reporting of suspected child abuse to authorities. That trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 24.
Ratigan also faces four civil lawsuits involving the child pornography allegations. Those lawsuits also name Finn and the diocese as defendants, alleging that they were aware of Ratigan’s troubling behavior and the images on his computer but failed to act.
Read entire article at Kansas City Star
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