KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the 50-year prison sentence for a former Kansas City priest convicted on child pornography charges.
The Kansas City Star reports that the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld the sentence of 48-year-old Shawn Ratigan, who pleaded guilty to federal charges of producing and attempting to produce child pornography. Ratigan was sentenced last year and argued on appeal that the sentence was unreasonable.
The appeals panel ruled that U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner did not commit procedural error or abuse his discretion in imposing the sentence that prosecutors sought.
Ratigan is incarcerated in a Missouri prison after pleading guilty to state child pornography charges and is serving the 21-year state sentence concurrently with the 50-year federal term.