Clay County Court

Catholic priest faces federal charges for allegedly making, possessing child porn

A Catholic priest charged with possessing child pornography in Clay County now faces similar, but much more serious, counts in federal court.</p><p>A federal grand jury today indicted the Rev. Shawn Francis Ratigan, 45, with 13 counts of possessing, producing and attempting to produce child pornography &#x2014; including producing of child porn in a church choir loft.</p><p>Ratigan could face at least 15 years, and up to 30 years, in prison if convicted on all counts.</p><p>U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips is expected to discuss the new charges at a press conference late this afternoon in Kansas City.</p><p>State authorities charged Ratigan in May after church officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph turned over images of children they had discovered on the priest&#x2019;s computer.</p><p>According to state court records, the pictures allegedly included so-called &#x201C;up-skirt&#x201D; photos of girls under the age of 12 and a nude photo of a girl that focused on her genitals.</p><p>After searching CDs and an external hard drive belonging to Ratigan, police found what they alleged were &#x201C;14 different images of child pornography of a 3-4 year old female&#x201D; and four other images of child porn.</p><p>Investigators also seized a computer that Ratigan used while working in St. Joseph.</p><p>The furor surrounding Ratigan&#x2019;s arrest has wounded both local Catholics and the diocese, which three years ago paid $10 million to settle lawsuits filed by more than 40 victims of clergy sexual abuse.</p><p>Bishop Robert Finn acknowledged that in 2010 a diocesan school principal complained about Ratigan&#x2019;s conduct around children and that church officials knew about the computer images months before they handed them over to authorities.</p><p>Finn has said he did not read the principal&#x2019;s complaints about Ratigan until after the priest had been charged in May. And when the diocese learned about the computer images in December 2010, its lawyers advised that they did not &#x201C;constitute child pornography, as they did not depict sexual conduct or contact,&#x201D; Finn said in a statement in May.</p><p>In June the diocese announced that it was removing Msgr. Robert Murphy from his role in overseeing sexual-abuse allegations against priests after he came under fire for his handling of questions about Ratigan.</p><p>Finn hired former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves to investigate how the diocese handled the issue. Graves&#x2019; report is expected soon.</p><p>And earlier this month, the National Catholic Reporter quoted the diocese as saying it was delaying a capital campaign "in light of the current challenge." </p><p>According to the newspaper, which is based in Kansas City, the diocese had asked priests whether the fundraising campaign should continue since the Ratigan case "came to the forefront of our attention." Of the priests that responded, 75 percent recommended a delay, the paper reported.</p><p>Following his ordination in 2004, Ratigan served as associate pastor at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Kansas City from June 2004 to June 2005. He then worked as parochial administrator with a dual assignment to St. Mary Catholic Church in St. Joseph and at St. Joseph Mission in Easton, Mo., from July 2005 to June 2009. He was pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Kansas City from July 2009 to December 2010.

Clay County candidates rally on courthouse steps | The Columbus ...

“I’m running because I care for District 36, both its present and its future,” Davidson said. “Because I live and work in this community I have seen firsthand what’s needed to keep this area moving forward. I understand the needs of this community, and what you, the voter, demand. I welcome the opportunity to serve you. I will work tirelessly and be accessible to all citizens and responsive to your phone calls and letters. Most of all I will listen to you, the voter. “In the 1950s and 60s people across the state organized for equal rights,” he said. “Our struggle today is for the future of our children, making sure that every student has access to a quality education and access to programs similar to those in other parts of the country. We cannot continue to fund education at an adequate level. I will vote to fully fund education not one time, but every time. Everything must be excellent, including funding, teaching and overall expectation. It takes a community to raise a child, and it’s the parent’s responsibility to train a child, but are we as a community going to stand by with our hands in our pockets and watch our schools crumble?”

David Gibbs is the incumbent representative. “I have represented this district for the last 19 years,” Gibbs said. “I’d like to thank you for the trust you have placed in me for that time. I have been involved in all the progress of West Point for the last 40 years. I’m currently serving as chairman of County Affairs in the House of Representatives, and I serve on Appropriations, I serve on Apportionment and Elections and I serve on Agriculture. On all of those I have been successful because I have become part of the House leadership. You become chairman of a House committee when you have seniority. I have the experience, I have the training and I have the know-how to make the best representative I can be.”

Sheriff “I have been going around with my campaign and trying to meet everybody,” he said. “I want to explain to you some of the things I want to do as your sheriff. I left West Point in 1985 and joined the National Guard. I stayed there for 24 years. I joined the special forces, and I have done two tours, one in 2003 in Afghanistan and one in 2007 in Iraq. One thing I’ve learned is that I love my country. I wanted to do my part for my country. I joined the Mississippi governor’s counter-drug task force. I joined that in 1992. I learned the value of being a leader and taking care of people. I want to bring the experience I gained to the office of sheriff. I want to bring fairness. I learned about fairness through being a deacon at Strong Hill. I want to bring fairness and I want to take care of people. I love everyone. I know the sheriff’s department under Laddie Huffman has done an excellent job, but I want to take it to another level. I’ve built a network up, and I have people that I can go to that know that I want to learn and that I have learned, and when I call on them they will come and I will help.

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