Sex Scandal: Parents react to lawsuit against Ratigan, Diocese

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Parents of a young girl are suing the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese while others applaud the move.

The lawsuit, which will be filed Thursday, accuses the diocese, Bishop Robert Finn and Father Shawn Ratigan of a cover-up.Ratigan, currently in the Clay County Detention facing possession of child pornography charges, now faces a lawsuit along with his former employer.

“I’m not shocked because it seems like they were hiding a lot of things and now things are coming out,” said Thu Meng, a parent whose child attends St. Patrick’s School, where Ratigan was once assigned. The lawsuit comes from the parents of a 7-year-old girl. Lawyers, in a release, said the girl is a victim. Those lawyers said Ratigan, while working for a church in Easton, Missouri, took pictures of the girl when she was 2- or 3-years-old. The suit alleges Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn, trying to avoid a church scandal, concealed sexually inappropriate photos found on Ratigan’s computer.

When asked for their opinions about the matter, parents leaving St. Patrick’s School did not mince words Wednesday.
“Good for them (the parents filing the lawsuit),” said Matthew Copple, a parent at the school. “The diocese needs to be held accountable.”
“I hope that the diocese is forced to change everything around, their policies, procedures, everything,” Meng said.
“The teachers here obviously saw something going on and tried to get something done about it and the diocese was silent,” Copple said.

That changed last week when a letter from the St. Patrick’s School principal surfaces. It detailed numerous allegations against Ratigan, even saying he “fit the profile of a child predator.” Members of the bishop’s staff knew about the letter for a year. However, they did nothing. Friday, Bishop Finn apologized.
“I have to change,” Bishop Finn said.
His words could not stop one lawsuit. However, St. Patrick’s parents hope the diocese response changes everything.