A priest whose child pornography case led to a criminal conviction against a Catholic bishop has been jailed for 50 years.
Prosecutors had asked that Shawn Ratigan be sentenced to 10 years for each of the five counts of producing and trying to produce child porn to which he pleaded guilty. Ratigan, 47, was charged after police received a flash drive from his computer containing hundreds of images of children, most clothed, with the focus on their crotch areas.
Bishop Robert Finn, of the Catholic diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, was convicted of one misdemeanour count of failing to report suspected child abuse.
Prosecutors said the diocese learned about the photos on Ratigan's computer on December 16, 2010, after a technician found them on his laptop and alerted church officials. The next day, Ratigan missed Sunday Mass and was found unconscious in his garage with his motorcycle running and a suicide note nearby.
Instead of reporting Ratigan or the photos to law enforcement, Finn waited until the priest was released from hospital and sent him to another US state for psychiatric counselling.
When Ratigan returned to Missouri, Finn ordered him to stay at a convent where he could say Mass for the nuns. The diocese turned the photos over to police after hearing that Ratigan had violated Finn's order to avoid contact with children.
