KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An indictment charging a Catholic bishop with not telling police about child pornography on a priest’s computer has made him the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official indicted on a charge of failing to protect children.
Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn on Friday became the first U.S. bishop criminally charged on allegations of sheltering an abusive clergyman. He acknowledged earlier this year that he and other diocese officials knew for five months about hundreds of “disturbing” photos of children found on a priest’s computer but didn’t take the matter to police.
Finn and the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese are each charged with one count of failing to report suspected child abuse. They have pleaded not guilty and Finn says the diocese is working to review its reporting practices.
Source: Associated Press
