Criminal Conviction For Failure To Report Suspected Child Abuse
On October 14, 2011, a county grand jury indicted both the Diocese and Finn personally for failure to report suspected child abuse, a criminal misdemeanor. While other bishops have been charged with directly perpetrating abuse, Finn is the first U.S. bishop to be criminally charged for his role as a supervisor of priests. The case is also the first criminal case against a sitting bishop in the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.
The indictment charged Finn with failing to inform police about child pornography found on a priest's computer. According to the indictment, the diocese was made aware of the images on Fr. Shawn Ratigan's computer on December 16, 2010, but did not report it to the authorities until May 11, 2011. All charges against the Diocese itself were dropped, Finn however was convicted on one charge in September 2012 and sentenced to two years of probation.
Read more about this topic: Robert Finn (bishop)
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