I live in Kansas City and I followed this case closely. The police officer involved was neither a detective nor an expert on child pornography. He was a patrol cop. Plus, he was given only a verbal description of a few of the photos on Ratigan's laptop computer, but he never saw the actual photos. In fact, nobody in law enforcement ever did. Why? Because Bishop Finn turned the laptop over to Ratigan's family, after which it disappeared.

I could go on about how the diocesan review board was completely bypassed, about how the principal of the parish school where Ratigan was pastor wrote (a full year before the laptop was discovered) a letter of concern which was ignored, about how Finn sent Ratigan to a therapist of dubious reputation to be "rehabilitated," etc.

The bottom line is, no reasonable person would say that Bishop Finn acted responsibly or objectively. He was predisposed to save Ratigan's priesthood, and that is never a good thing where suspected predators are concerned.