Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, Mo., has been charged with failing to report the suspected abuse of a child, making him the first active bishop in the United States to face criminal prosecution over the sexual abuse of children by a priest.
Finn’s Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has been charged with the same offense, which is a Class A misdemeanor, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced on Friday (Oct. 14).
“The fact that this is a misdemeanor count should not diminish the significance of the case,” Peters Baker said in a statement.
When I read the news reports yesterday, I was both incredulous and angry. In what alternative universe do these clergy reside to think that having pictures of a toddler’s genitals on a computer isn’t a disgusting and reportable offense? Because that’s what these clergy are claiming — that a naked picture of a child like that wouldn’t necessarily raise alarm. Really? So, do they think that normal, reasonable lay people have such “crotch” pictures of children on their computers and other electronic devices and it’s fine?
If that’s what they believe, it’s warped. But even more unthinkable is the possibility (or probability) that they are raising it as a defense simply to exonerate themselves — in so doing, they are creating a case record that states RC bishops and clergy think that keeping crotch pics of children on one’s computer may be perfectly fine sometimes. Is it they don’t understand or see the problem with that or they simply don’t care, and are concerned with saving their own skins more?
I wish the penalties were higher and the charge was a felony. Something has to burst the bubble of protection and privilege in which this bishop resides and it may be jail time that’s required. I’m sure that there are some seasoned felons who would love to have the opportunity to express their moral outrage on the subject to the clueless bishop.
I wonder how many more there are.
In what alternative universe would anyone think that having pictures of anyone’s genitals on a computer isn’t a disgusting offense?
(It certainly makes me yearn for the Ordinariate as a safe harbor from the ongoing sexual and other misconduct in TEC.)
Ralph – either you are being ironic and I didn’t pick up on it or I am completely perplexed by your statement about yearning for the Ordinariate – this bishop is RC. You must be being ironic and I’m too dull to pick up on it. Sorry about that.
An interesting review of some coverage of this topic:
http://www.getreligion.org/2011/10/sin-ink-and-the-bishops-indictment/
montanan, folks who think that the grass is greener on the Roman side of the Tiber need to realize that it’s merely a different shade of brown. They face challenges, as do we, and this is a huge one. I don’t think there’s a harbor on earth that’s safe from the devil.
Child abuse is not a catholic evil but a societal one and instances occur across denominations. I am sure a scrutiny of Anglican organists in England over the same period would reveal similar grot- or children’s homes- or boarding schools….and so on and so forth. And even then most abuse occurs in the family
Indeed, the claims of the Catholic Church (and the Orthodox, if I understand them) to truly to transmit infallibly the Apostolic Faith. There is no claim to impeccability. In fact, an Episcopal priest recently expressed a desire to escape the TEC mess and become RC. I pointed out that with 33 times the members (in the U.S.), we had at least 33 times the mess.
Indeed, rpp – the rates of offense is broadly spread across all communities. In fact, one Anglican source noted numbers of Catholic and TEC offenses in New Hampshire. There were more Catholics, of course, but as a rate, the TEC clergy were much worse. Sex abuse abuse in schools is rampant, but generally reported, if at all, on the local level. Bp. Finn made the news in Canada and Ireland, at least. It’s worth pondering on why that might be.
Well, It’s not my intent to belabor this, but the prosecutor made a statement well worth noting :
“I can assure you that this has nothing — nothing — to do with the Catholic faith,†Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in announcing the indictments. “This is about the facts of this case, and this is about protecting children.â€
I would like to think that polemicists would take that perpective into account.
OK, the constant “but they’re doing it, too!” chorus that has become reliably expected when this subject is discussed has been noted and is, once again, an ineffective smokescreen. As I would tell my students when a similar complaint would arise when someone was disciplined for something, “yes, and if so-and-so is caught doing the same thing, then so-and-so will also face the music. Now, the focus is on you.”
The problem is that this common chorus’ efforts dillute the seriousness of the problem, whether they want it to or not. The fact that there are clergy and bishops so apparently desensitized to the problem that they can claim pictures of toddlers’ genitals on a priest’s computer as non-problematic shows just how well their spin machine is working. And everyone who spins with and for them is aiding their desensitization, IMO.
As much as I like and respect my rector, if he were caught with kiddy porn on his computer and our bishop sat on the info/covered it up, there is no way in Gehenna I would be defending either one of them, privately or publicly. And I especially can’t imagine trying to dismiss what they did by saying, “Oh, tosh, this is common in the RCC so why even bring it up?!” No. It’s wrong, the coverups have to stop, the offenders need to be punished. I don’t care what organization it involves.
And, Ralph, I agree with you. As long as you’re on Earth, you can’t flee iniquity. Claiming a safe haven or “pure” church is delusional. We know this.
Of course, no one is defending Bp. Finn, although making the claim is usually a success at dismissing (not refuting) unpleasant facts. Such as the ubiquity of sexual abuse in our society. Scapegoating the Catholic Church as though we have a special problem is the real smokescreen. While everyone pontificates on the faults of the Church, and rides their favorite hobby horse (celibacy, women priests, lay empowerment, etc.), kids are getting hurt in all the places that aren’t in the focus.
And the focus is always on us, which is actually good for us : we are getting a good housecleaning, our bishops (some of them) are learning to be pastors and not corporate executives, and we are getting rid of a lot of excess money.
Meant to say,
Good for us and our kids, not so much for the kids in public schools and Protestant churches.