SNAP - The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests recently shared the following message to Kansas City's Current Top Cop, KCPD Chief Of Police Jim Corwin.
SNAP IS ASKING FOR AN INVESTIGATION INTO A KCPD SGT. REGARDING KANSAS CITY AREA CATHOLIC CHURCH CHILD PORN CHARGES!!!
Personally, I think any reprimand of the KCPD Sgt. WOULD NOT BE CORRECT given that he didn't see anything and was simply engaged in a conversation . . . But SNAP is in a FULL COURT PRESS in this KANSAS CITY CATHOLIC HIERARCHY CHILD PORN CONTROVERSY and it's clear they are doing everything in their power to move their case forward and protect the survivors of abuse by priests.
Read the note and judge for yourself . . .
SNAP's open letter to KC Police Chief Corwin
July 18, 2011
Dear Chief Corwin:
We belong to a confidential self help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Our mission is to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.
We have deep respect for police officers. Many police officers have helped many of us. We constantly urge victims witnesses and whistleblowers to call police officers.
But we have serious concerns about Captain Richard Smith and the Fr. Shawn Ratigan case.
On June 2 KC Star reported that “Capt. Richard Smith of the Kansas City Police Department was contacted in December by the diocese after photos were discovered on the Rev. Shawn Ratigan’s laptop. But Smith was only told about one photo and was not made aware that there were other more graphic images on the computer.”
We hope that’s the whole story. We fear that it may not be. And we fear that having a police captain on Bishop Finn’s private, hand-picked abuse panel may deter some highly distrustful victims from reporting clergy sex crimes and cover ups to police.
Over the past few months, we have hoped that something would happen regarding Smith to clarify this situation. We hoped he might speak publicly about the Ratigan case and his involvement in it. We hoped that, if he had indeed been misled or misinformed by church officials, Smith might have publicly quit the review board and denounced church officials for using or deceiving him. We’d hoped that the police department might announce an investigation into his position on Finn’s board or his potential role in the Fr. Ratigan scandal.
None of those things have happened. Parishioners, parents and the public are as much in the dark now about Smith’s possible involvement in the Ratigan case as they were from the outset.
Make no mistake here: Finn is the main culprit here. But Finn didn’t act alone. Others – intentionally or unintentionally - helped keep Ratigan’s crimes secret. Was Smith one of them? The public deserves to know.
About Fr. Ratigan’s hundreds of photos of kids, Finn could have called any one of literally thousands of KC area law enforcement officials – police, prosecutors, sheriffs, or federal agents. But he chose to call one law enforcement official – Captain Smith – whom Finn trusts enough to put on his hand-picked abuse panel. The result was that Fr. Ratigan was allowed to remain around unsuspecting families and vulnerable kids. Again, the public deserves to know more about this troubling situation.
Maybe Captain Smith did nothing wrong. But maybe not. In our experience, over the years, we have seen many well-intentioned individuals serve on Catholic abuse panels genuinely hoping to make the church a safer place. Sometimes, however, those individuals end up quitting or speaking out because they realize later that they were deceived, their advice was ignored, their credibility and connections were used, and their good intentions were betrayed, while bishops continued to cover up clergy sex crimes. We wonder if this has been the case with Finn’s review panel.
We hope you’ll consider an investigation into Captain Smith’s actions in the Fr. Ratigan case and whether it is appropriate to have any police employee on Finn’s abuse panel.
David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPclohessy@aol.com)
Mike Hunter of Kansas City, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (mhunter_mp@accessus.net,mhunter_mp@sbcglobal.net)
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The pressure should be applied to the US Dept of Justice, because the fix is in around here. There is no use in appealing to city, county or state officials.
ReplyDeletetrue dat :(
ReplyDeleteGood letter. However, it will go nowhere. The fix is in with that catholic bunch and law enforcement.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone ever consider that the Bishop was not telling the truth about the picture to Capt. Smith?
ReplyDeleteThe images that have been discussed and which were shown to the Sgt were NOT considered pornographic by state law. And, the individual was NOT acting in an official capacity. Now, saying this, I think it was patently unfair to put the man in the position he was placed in reviewing the photos.
ReplyDeleteWithout seeing the photos, I think it's journalistically irresponsible to single out a man who has not been charged with a crime. Even tho cops do it every day, releasing names without charges.
ReplyDeleteKinda like Rupert Murdoch today, he got a taste of what his line of work does to people, as did his executive, Rebeccah whatshername.
Now there's an issue about FAIRNESS...a word thrown about in all the wrong places, right TV girl?
Hey, Tony. You're way behind the curve on this one. Corwin has already thanked Clohessy for his advice on running his department, and told him to take a hike.
ReplyDeleteBut if you want a good story, ask Clohessy for a detailed list of donors to SNAP. After all, as a 501(c)3, they have to make that public.
You might also ask him for another document that should be public -- a detailed accounting of expenditures so we can see how much of SNAP's budget goes to services for the victims they care so much about, and how much goes into Clohessy's bank account.
Hey R-man, cite an instance where police released the name of a person prior to charging...A-hole
ReplyDelete