This week I honor another recipient of the *Crystal Kipper & Ali Kemp Memorial Award—Kansas City Police Detective Maggie McGuire. Det. McGuire also worked on the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force.
One case she helped bring to justice involved a Roman Catholic priest and the Bishop who knew about the priest’s pornographic fetish but did nothing to stop it.
The priest pleaded guilty to four counts of producing pornography and one count of attempting to produce child pornography. A federal judge sentenced him to 50-years in prison without parole. Each count related to five separate child victims ranging in age between two and 12-years old.
After a guilty verdict and the Vatican’s acceptance of his resignation, the court sentenced the Bishop to two years of supervised probation.
At the award ceremony, the Deputy U.S. Attorney noted because of Det. McGuire’s untiring and relentless work, they identified multiple victims. He also remarked that from the first day they had assigned her the case—which took years to prosecute—she’d been a pit bull in tracking down the evidence needed to seek justice on behalf of the child victims.
A direct quote from the Deputy U.S. Attorney, “The impetus for the additional programs and victims’ advocates put into place in the Diocese as a result of the Ratigan/Finn debacle, and the additional education of the community on the dangers of child exploitation—especially from the production of child pornography—all owe their origin to this detective’s work, and stand as a more positive legacy and a promise that children in our District will be protected for years to come.”
*The Crystal Kipper & Ali Kemp Memorial Award is presented by the U.S. Attorney’s Office each year during the observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week to recognize the outstanding work of an individual or organization in protecting children from exploitation. The award is presented in memory of Crystal Kipper and Ali Kemp, two young women who were both fatal victims of tragic crimes.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, National Catholic Reporter, Reuters