The one thing we do know about where Ron Johnson stands on child protection comes from his prominent opposition to the Wisconsin Child Victims Act, a bipartisan bill that would have extended the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse.posted by symbioid at 3:46 PM on October 14, 2011 [2 favorites]
In 2009, Johnson, a private citizen, traveled from Oshkosh to the capitol in Madison to deliver testimony (see page 27) opposing the bill. There’s not much of serious substance in his testimony, other than his argument that lawsuits by abuse victims would hurt “non-profit organizations.” Johnson then listed eight nonprofits he was involved with, including some affiliated with the Catholic church, who fought the legislation strongly (Johnson is a Lutheran).
Federal prosecutors say Ratigan took sexually explicit pictures of girls' private parts starting in 2005 through April 2011.posted by ennui.bz at 3:50 PM on October 14, 2011
In December, diocesan officials found what prosecutors later alleged was child pornography on Ratigan’s computer. The diocese said it contacted a police officer and described “one of the more disturbing images” from Ratigan’s computer, asking whether it constituted child porn, and the officer said it did not. Police later confirmed that the officer was Capt. Richard Smith, but said that he was told only about one photo and was not made aware that other, more graphic images were stored on Ratigan’s computer.so, you might ask, what were the photos on Ratigans laptop?
The church relieved Ratigan of his duties as pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in the Northland and assigned him to live at an Independence mission house. While there, according to a federal indictment, he allegedly attempted to take pornographic photos of a 12-year-old girl.
a computer technician discovered pornographic images of girls on the laptop, including pictures of girls' vaginas, according to court documents.So, the diocese contacted a police officer and described a photo which the officer apparently did not think was pornographic. Either the decency standards of Missouri cops are lower than I would expect or the diocese could have been charged with a lot more than misdemeanor charges of failure to report child abuse.
Ratigan is accused of taking sexually explicit pictures of a 6-year-old girl in June 2005, according to the federal indictment. Pictures of that girl was on the laptop turned over to the diocese on Dec. 16, 2010, according to prosecutors.
The second victim was 2 years old when Ratigan began taking pictures of her, according to the indictment. He took pictures of her at St. Joseph's Church in Easton, including inside the church's choir loft, in May 2006, prosecutors say.
Ratigan again took pictures of the girl when she was 5 years old, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say Ratigan took more than 40 close-up shots of the girl's private area while she stood on the church's front steps on June 3, 2009.
The third victim was 5 years old when Ratigan took photos of her private parts in the summer and fall of 2007, according to court documents. He allegedly took sexually explicit photos again of the sleeping girl in March 2008 while allegedly trying to pull her pants down. He is accused of again taking photos of her in April 2008 and April 2010.
The fourth victim was 7 years old in 2009 when photos were taken of her, according to court documents.
The fifth victim was sleeping in August 2008 and September 2009 when Ratigan pulled down her pants and took pictures of her private parts, according to the indictment. The girl was 8 and 9 years old during this period of time.
a computer technician discovered pornographic images of girls on the laptop, including pictures of girls' vaginas, according to court documents.from this sentence it looks like the technician found vaginas and testified to that in front of the grand jury. Now, you are arguing that somehow they didn't see the bad stuff? Or, Capt. Smith thinks 6 is above the age of consent in Missouri?
The computer repairman alerted the diocese to the images. Church officials then asked a diocese computer technician to review the laptop, according to police investigators. Copies of the image were made but the laptop was turned over to Ratigan's family, who then destroyed the laptop, according to investigators. A church official in December described a single picture over the phone to a police officer, investigators have said.the diocese made an 'image' of the laptops harddrive and then returned it to Ratigan. the diocese had plural images, which they were able to turn over to the police after he was caught with a 12 year old girl at the retirment home they parked him at.
The diocese didn't give the images to police until May. In the ensuing five months, Ratigan remained with the diocese. Diocese officials have said they contacted police in May after Ratigan ignored warnings to stay away from children.
During one of Father's classroom interruptions, a teacher reported the following: using a sing-song voice, Father entered the 5/6th grade social studies class with " I got an invitation, I got an invitation!" waving the paper in the air. When asked what he was invited to, Father answered, "To a Cinco de Mayo Party". One of the kids grabbed the invitation from his hand and said to him, " It's to the PRE-school party!" and everyone laughed. Somehow the conversation turned to Reconciliation and the fact that Father wished that the Pius students would confess their real sins, and not just the "little stuff". When the kids asked what he meant, he said, "Sins against the 6th commandment." Later, a 6th grader asked the teacher, "Does Father Shawn think the kids at Pius are having affairs with their neighbors?"Or how about the house filled with stuffed animals and decorated for children where a school group found girl's panties in a planter outside? No one needed to attend a "workshop" to figure out what was going on.
« Older Spiral art by Chan Hwee Chong.... | The Architecture of the Comic ... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by 2bucksplus at 2:36 PM on October 14, 2011 [3 favorites]