Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
2010-2014 · 4 years · show in timeline

Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph 2010 to 2014: Diocese withholds child images on a priest's laptop from police for five months; the priest receives 50 years in prison

In December 2010 a technician found hundreds of images of little girls on the laptop of the priest Shawn Ratigan. The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph did not hand the laptop to police; the diocesan attorney judged one image not to be child pornography, and at the bishop's request the laptop was returned to Ratigan's family and destroyed. Ratigan violated restrictions to stay away from children. Only in May 2011 did the vicar general inform the police. An investigation commissioned by the diocese found in August 2011 that its leadership had not followed its own rules. Ratigan pleaded guilty to producing child pornography involving five girls and received 50 years in prison.

Period
2010-2014 (4 years)
Country
United States
Institutions
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph
Category
Sexual abuse, Cover-up
Level of evidence
A Primary source · what does this mean?
Persons
Shawn Ratigan (priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph; sentenced in 2013 to 50 years for producing child pornography, affirmed 2014)

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. On 15 December 2010 Ratigan took his laptop to a technician, who found images of prepubescent girls and contacted the parish. The diocese's IT director found hundreds of images of girls under ten and advised the vicar general to contact the police and the diocesan attorney; the attorney opined that the images were not pornography, and church officials did not give them to the police. Ratigan pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child pornography and one attempt; the offences involved five girls and were committed between 2005 and 2009. The court imposed 50 years in prison, and the appeals court affirmed in 2014.
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 2
    „She discovered hundreds of images of girls under the age of ten.“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 2. Original
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 2
    „The diocesan attorney opined that the images“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 2. Original
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 2
    „Church officials did not submit the laptop or images to the“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 2. Original
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 1
    „Shawn Ratigan pleaded guilty to four counts of production of child“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 1. Original
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 4
    „The counts of conviction involved images of five different“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 4. Original
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 1
    „The district court1 imposed a 50-year sentence.“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 1. Original

Background

Response of the Church

  1. As early as May 2010 the parish school principal had reported concerns to the diocese in writing: Ratigan let elementary school girls sit on his lap and took excessive pictures of children; the vicar general reviewed the letter with Ratigan, with no consequences. After his suicide attempt in December 2010 Ratigan became chaplain to Franciscan nuns and was supposed to avoid children, but attended a child's birthday party and bought a camera and a laptop. When the vicar general informed the police in May 2011, the diocesan attorney had already returned the laptop to Ratigan's family at the bishop's request; it had been destroyed.
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 3, Anm. 2
    „The vicar general reviewed the letter with Ratigan, but the diocese took no disciplinary“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 3, Anm. 2. Original
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 3
    „He attended a child’s birthday party“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 3. Original
    Evidence: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, S. 4
    „he learned that the diocesan attorney had returned the laptop to Ratigan’s family at the“
    United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, S. 4. Original
    Evidence: Todd P. Graves, Graves Bartle Marcus & Garrett, im Auftrag der Diözese, Executive Summary, S. 1
    „The Firm’s key finding is that Diocesan leaders failed to follow their own policies“
    The Report of the Independent Investigation of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Executive Summary, S. 1. Original
    Evidence: Todd P. Graves, Graves Bartle Marcus & Garrett, im Auftrag der Diözese, Executive Summary, S. 2
    „he failed to timely turn over the laptop to“
    The Report of the Independent Investigation of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Executive Summary, S. 2. Original

Original documents to read

  1. Judgment
    United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit: United States v. Shawn Ratigan, No. 13-3174, 24 July 2014. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
  2. Commission report
    Todd P. Graves, Graves Bartle Marcus & Garrett, im Auftrag der Diözese: The Report of the Independent Investigation of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, 31 August 2011. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
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Last changed on 31 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.