As Ireland continues to protect those who protected child rapists America charges Catholic Bishop with concealing the crimes of Catholic Priest, Fianna Fail's criminal failure to introduce Mandatory reporting of child rape means that Gerry Adams, Cardinal Sean Brady and other evil people get away with offering safe houses to child rapists. Fine Gael have vowed to introduce Mandatory reporting in order to help undo the damage done by Fianna Fail criminals.
A Catholic bishop in Kansas has been charged with covering up suspected child abuse by a priest.
Bishop Robert Finn is accused of failing to alert police to a priest in his Kansas city diocese, Fr Shawn Ratigan, who was charged with producing and possessing child pornography earlier this year.
Bishop Finn has apologised for his handling of the case but denied any wrongdoing.
The bishop has become the highest-ranking church official charged in the United States in the long-running clerical sexual abuse scandal.
Prosecutors in Jackson County, Missouri, said Bishop Finn, 58, became aware of child pornography images on the laptop computer of Fr Ratigan in December 2010 but failed to appropriately notify police or state child abuse authorities for five months.
Dr Finn's lawyer entered a plea of not guilty in court yesterday and the bishop issued a statement saying he would fight the misdemeanour charge - which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine - "with a steady resolve and a vigorous defence."
The Catholic diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, Missouri, that Bishop Finn led was also hit with the same charge. The diocese agreed to pay $10 million three years ago to settle previous sexual abuse allegations made in civil lawsuits.
"This case is about protecting children. I want to ensure there are no future failures to report resulting in other unsuspecting victims," Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said, adding that a grand jury handed up the charges 6 October.
Fr Ratigan already faces charges of possessing child pornography after hundreds of images of naked children were found on his laptop computer.
He was charged with taking sexually explicit photographs of at least five young girls, ages 2 to 12, between 2005 and his arrest in spring 2011.
Bishop Finn apologized to parishioners of the diocese for failing to do more to detect and report alleged abuses by Fr Ratigan, accepting "full responsibility for these failures."
A Catholic bishop in Kansas has been charged with covering up suspected child abuse by a priest.
Bishop Robert Finn is accused of failing to alert police to a priest in his Kansas city diocese, Fr Shawn Ratigan, who was charged with producing and possessing child pornography earlier this year.
Bishop Finn has apologised for his handling of the case but denied any wrongdoing.
The bishop has become the highest-ranking church official charged in the United States in the long-running clerical sexual abuse scandal.
Prosecutors in Jackson County, Missouri, said Bishop Finn, 58, became aware of child pornography images on the laptop computer of Fr Ratigan in December 2010 but failed to appropriately notify police or state child abuse authorities for five months.
Dr Finn's lawyer entered a plea of not guilty in court yesterday and the bishop issued a statement saying he would fight the misdemeanour charge - which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine - "with a steady resolve and a vigorous defence."
The Catholic diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, Missouri, that Bishop Finn led was also hit with the same charge. The diocese agreed to pay $10 million three years ago to settle previous sexual abuse allegations made in civil lawsuits.
"This case is about protecting children. I want to ensure there are no future failures to report resulting in other unsuspecting victims," Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said, adding that a grand jury handed up the charges 6 October.
Fr Ratigan already faces charges of possessing child pornography after hundreds of images of naked children were found on his laptop computer.
He was charged with taking sexually explicit photographs of at least five young girls, ages 2 to 12, between 2005 and his arrest in spring 2011.
Bishop Finn apologized to parishioners of the diocese for failing to do more to detect and report alleged abuses by Fr Ratigan, accepting "full responsibility for these failures."
