II

SIGNS OF TROUBLE

The camera was an early clue. From the time he was ordained into the Catholic priesthood in 2004, Father Shawn Ratigan carried a camera with him nearly all the time. At church and school events and during many frequent visits to the homes of families within his parish, the gregarious middle-aged priest was known for his skill in capturing events with both a camera and his cell phone.

Children were a favoured subject for his photos, and his activities. Ratigan readily talked about how much he enjoyed young people, encouraged children to sit on his lap, pushed them high on swings and frequently offered hugs. The burly, goateed priest also sought out children to "friend" on Facebook and seemed eager to attend field trips, birthday parties, ice skating events and the like.

As one of five brothers and sisters in a large Catholic family, Ratigan was also known as a favourite uncle to his 11 nieces and nephews. His home held stuffed animals and doll-shaped towels, and children were frequent visitors.

Ratigan sometimes showed a bit of a wild side though, according to those who know him. He loved his Harley motorcycle, shaved his head and smoked cigarettes. Maker's Mark Kentucky Bourbon was his drink of choice.

Still, his work with the Catholic Church was his main focus. After dating women in his youth and working in a family business that refurbished churches, he was ordained as a priest in 2004. Ratigan seemed to transition easily into the roles of pastor and chaplain at parish schools.

There were early complaints about Ratigan's behaviour. But it was not until after he was assigned pastor of St. Patrick Parish and School in Kansas City in July 2009 that some parents and teachers raised a series of concerns about his behaviour involving children.

Some within the parish worried that his close interaction with children resembled the "grooming" behaviour of a predator. But when these complaints were raised with Ratigan, he brushed them aside and insisted he was doing no wrong, according to the Graves report to the diocese.

The priest's Facebook page also raised red flags. It featured photos of him swimming in a lake with a young girl, and pictures of children sitting on his lap.

In one incident mentioned in the Graves report, parents of Girl Scouts planting flowers at Ratigan's townhouse complained that they were alarmed to find a pair of young girl's underwear in a planter in his yard.

As complaints mounted, St. Patrick School Principal Julie Hess decided to take the concerns to diocese officials, putting together a written report outlining the complaints from parents and teachers.

In May 2010, Hess met with Deacon Mike Lewis, who asked her to report her concerns directly to the diocese main office. Neither Lewis nor Hess would agree to interviews, but their accounts are contained in lawsuits against the diocese and Finn and in the Graves report.

Hess's concerns eventually made their way to Monsignor Robert Murphy, the second-ranking officer in the diocese.

As administrator of the diocese's "response team" that investigates sexual abuse of children, Murphy was supposed to work with the diocese's Independent Review Board, set up in 2002 to make recommendations to the bishop when sexual abuse of minors was suspected.

Monsignor Murphy did act on Hess' concerns, meeting with Ratigan and ordering him to maintain proper boundaries with children. He also notified Bishop Finn of the situation. But he did not take the issue to the review board because Ratigan's acts were thought to be "boundary violations" but not sexual abuse, according to information from diocese officials in the Graves report.

For a few months Ratigan seemed to have gotten the message. The priest emailed an apology to St. Patrick's teachers and Principal Hess: "My heart is heavy because I love the kids and I would never do anything to harm them. I promise that nothing will happen again," Ratigan wrote.

The complaints subsided through the summer and the concerns seemed to have been addressed. A new school year started and fall turned to winter. Then Father Ratigan decided he needed his laptop fixed.

"A BAD THING"

It was mid-December of last year when Ratigan complained about problems with his laptop and a St. Patrick office manager called Kes, the computer repairman. Kes picked up the laptop on December 16 and took it to his home office.

Raised Catholic, Kes had served as an altar boy growing up in Minnesota and had fond memories of going to baseball games with his priest. He attended private Catholic schools through high school before drifting away from the church.

When Kes and his wife moved to her hometown of Kansas City to raise their three girls, he approached the diocese to seek a job handling computer technology jobs.

Kes had several friends in the diocese, and he felt particularly close to Deacon Lewis. He also knew many of the priests, Ratigan among them. Though he thought the priest a bit of a "grump," he shared Ratigan's interest in motorcycles and helped him set up Internet services in his home.

So when Kes discovered the photos on Ratigan's computer, he was stunned. He dialled his oldest brother and asked what he should do.

"He told me to turn it over to the police," Kes said.

Kes made more phone calls, to another brother and to the pastor of a local Baptist church. Both told him to call police. Kes then called his wife of 39 years, Linda, who, he said, gave him a different answer: Take the computer back to the church and tell them what he had found.

Kes agreed and called the diocese to alert them to his discovery and let them know he was bringing the laptop back.

"I didn't want it in my possession," said Kes. "This is a bad thing."

Kes rushed the laptop back to the St. Patrick parish office, where he found his friend Deacon Lewis waiting. He showed Lewis the alarming photos and remembers that Lewis seemed "shocked" at what he was seeing.

Kes said he felt assured the matter would be referred to police and he left the laptop with Lewis, confident something would quickly be done.

According to the Graves report, Lewis did act quickly. He immediately notified Monsignor Murphy of the discovery of disturbing images on Ratigan's laptop. He then raced to get the laptop from St. Patrick's, where Ratigan was expected to arrive shortly, to Murphy's office at the Chancery, the main office for the diocese.

Murphy also acted quickly. Before even receiving the laptop, Murphy placed a call to a member of the diocese's Independent Review Board who was a police officer, Rick Smith.

But Monsignor Murphy, who had not yet seen the pictures, only passed on Deacon Lewis' description of one nude, non-sexual image of a young girl, thought to be one of Ratigan's nieces, and asked if it might be considered child pornography. He did not tell Smith there were hundreds of troublesome photos, according to the accounts of those involved.

Without having seen the one photo described or getting any indication there might be more like it, Smith consulted with an expert in his department and then called back with a conjecture that the photo might or might not be pornography. Smith did not suspect that the diocese might be holding back any information.

Monsignor Murphy then sought more input, asking for the diocese's information management director, Julie Creech, to review the photos once the laptop arrived. Murphy also alerted Finn to the situation.