In spite of his lawyers’ pleas to the contrary, Bishop Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph will have to stand trial for allegedly not reporting the crime of sexual abuse of law enforcement authorities. Essentially, the court determined that Bishop Finn, as head of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, had a duty to report allegations of child sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities. Neither side attempted to claim the Bishop never knew about the allegations.
In his six page ruling, Judge John M. Torrence found that there is sufficient evidence to proceed in the criminal trial.