JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. — Republican District Attorney Steve Howe says he’s not investigating suspended Bishop Miege High School President Phil Baniewicz despite allegations against him.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced Tuesday that Baniewicz has been restricted from all active ministry due to a claim of inappropriate behavior with a minor. Just like on Tuesday, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas would not comment on camera on Wednesday.
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Their announcement on Tuesday, though, says that people should first report any abuse to the Kansas Protection Report Center. That is within the Kansas Department of Children and Families (DCF). Wednesday, though, Howe said a person should report an allegation to law enforcement at the same time they report it to DCF.
“DCF only works during office hours,” Howe said.
“As we know, sometimes those reports don’t always come in then, and also, law enforcement has under the law, the authority to put a child into police protective custody.”
Howe says school workers in both public schools and the Archdiocese are mandatory reporters of child abuse and go through training about their obligations.
“They take it very seriously, and so I have a lot of faith that they’ll do the things that they need to do to protect their students as well as report any information they’re aware of to DCF,” Howe said when asked about the Archdiocese restriction.
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Tuesday’s announcement from the Archdiocese says that this information was reported to civil authorities, although the direct entity they reported this to wasn’t named. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) wants to know who the leaders in the Catholic Church reported their information to.
“But he, as basically the king of his realm, he doesn’t have to wait for law enforcement to make a decision,” SNAP’s Melanie Sakoda said in an interview with FOX4 Wednesday, talking about the Archdiocese of KCK Archbishop Shawn McKnight.
“He has absolute authority to say who’s working in his institutions.”
Despite what Sakoda said, FOX4 knows of no local law enforcement agencies investigating Baniewicz.
