Principal warned diocese about priest more than a year ago

[proud2BlibKansan]

The principal of a Catholic school warned a top official of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph more than a year ago that parents and teachers found the Rev. Shawn Ratigan’s behavior toward children troubling, including the hundreds of pictures the priest took.

The warning came more than six months before the diocese was alerted to questionable images of children on Ratigan’s computer.

Ratigan, 45, of Kansas City, North, was charged last week with possessing pornographic photos of children taken around churches and schools where he had worked in the diocese. Ratigan pleaded not guilty Monday in Clay County Circuit Court.

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Among specific concerns Hess raised in her letter:

•“Father allows students to climb on him, grab his leg/s and reach into his pockets for candy. When they climb/jump on him, he may swing them up over his head or spin them around.”

At a faculty meeting, “the teachers agreed to intervene” when they saw those behaviors.

•The physical education teacher reported that at a school basketball game, “Father was sitting very close to a first-grade girl, who had wrapped both of her hands and arms around his arm and was trying to cuddle up to him.”

•When the first-grade Brownie Girl Scouts planted flowers at Ratigan’s house, parents said they were concerned about what they found.

“ ‘It’s very kid-friendly,’ one mother said. ‘There is a big fish tank in the living room and stuffed animals all over the furniture.’ There is a giant stuffed animal on the bed in the guest-room and the kitchen hand towels are shaped to look like doll clothes.”

A parent said she found “a pair of girls’ panties inside one of the planters in Father’s backyard.”



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/26/2907168/principal-warned-diocese-about.html#disqus_thread#ixzz1NbE6L3ml

[LeftofObama]

1. Just fu**ing creepy! n/t

[Sonoman]

2. It just doesn't stop, does it?

And this creep is only 45 years of age.

So much for the 'Woodstock' defense.

Sonoman

[Sonoman]

3. I went back to rec this and brought it up to 0.

Proof positive that DU should monitor recs.

There are some weird fuckers on this site.

Sonoman

[MichiganVote]

12. Sure are.

[MichiganVote]

4. K&R,

[mzteris]

5. wtf is unreccing this story?

PEDOPHILES???

[MichiganVote]

7. Prolly. Republican pedophiles. The worst kind.

[mzteris]

9. aren't those terms

interchangeable?

[MichiganVote]

10. Well now that you mention it, the vernacular is 'republican fuckers' so yeah, think so.

[REP]

11. Well, could be an opinion about the content - I'd give it a "thumbs down" on that

I think sometimes people hit unrec as a vote against the conduct of the subject of a news article - not meaning "I disapprove of this post," but "I disapprove of (whatever horrible thing the article is about).

I KNOW some people unrec once in a while by mistake - I've done it more than once on my phone :-)

[cbdo2007]

16. I posted about this earlier today so maybe people are Unrec duplicates?

It didn't get any play or discussion earlier, but still people may be sick of hearing about this. It's a local story for us so maybe people unrec local stories? Don't make sense to me.

[DeSwiss]

6. K&R n/t

[MichiganVote]

8. Oh look, its another kick for the story somebody keeps u'recom.

[TheDebbieDee]

13. This $hit has been going on for centuries and for centuries

the Catholic Church has been covering up for these creeps. I'm never surprised to read similar stories anymore.

[iemitsu]

14. it is creepy.

this priest acts just like mr. rogers.

[Blue-Jay]

17. Fred Rogers devoted his life to helping kids.

Not fucking them.

[AlabamaLibrul]

15. I'm shocked, shocked I say

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:
:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:
:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[unkachuck]

18. I'm surprised....

....there are still people who subscribe to the Catholic faith....

....I know I'm painting with a wide brush; it's only because I haven't got a roller....(and I used to Catholic)

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. SSupporters of this priest are posting comments on the newspaper site now

How sick is that?