A 19-year-old Maryville man is dead after a crash last night west of Maryville.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Bradie Clements lost control of his pickup truck along Route-46 near 270th Street, eight miles west of Maryville.

The truck ran off the roadway, struck an embankment, overturned, and hit another embankment, ejecting Clements.

Mr Clements was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bishop Robert Finn of the Kansas City/St Joseph Diocese, has resigned.

The Catholic prelate who became a symbol of the church’s failures in addressing the sexual abuse crisis, was the first bishop criminally convicted of mishandling an abusive priest, yet remained in office for another three years.

The Vatican announced Finn’s resignation as head of the diocese in its daily news bulletin Tuesday, in what the National Catholic Reporter called a “terse note” :

 

“The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the diocese of St. Joseph-Kansas City, Mo. (United States) presented His Excellency Bishop Robert Finn.”

Pope Francis has not named a replacement as bishop.

The Vatican appointed Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann as Apostolic Administrator of the Missouri diocese until a replacement forFinn is appointed. Naumann will retain his duties in the Kansas diocese.

In a letter to addressed to the people of the diocese, Naumann asked for prayers.  He acknowledged the “vitality and beauty” of the community but also stated hs is ” keenly conscious of some of challenges and difficulties this Diocese has suffered in recent years.” The role of an administrator, by its definition he says, “is for a very short season.”

“This will not be a time for innovation or change, but a time to sustain the ordinary and essential activities of the Church, and where possible to advance the initiatives that already are under way.”

Naumann said he hoped the coming months would be “a time of grace and healing for the Diocese.”

Finn was convicted in September 2012 of one misdemeanor for failing to report child abuse suspicions. A diocese priest, Rev. Shawn Ratigan, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

It is rare for bishops in the Catholic church to resign without cause before they reach the traditional retirement age of 75. Finn is 62 and had led the diocese since 2005.

Other than for reasons of health, only one other bishop among the some 200 U.S. Catholic dioceses and eparchies has resigned his role in such a manner in at least the past decade.  No U.S. bishop has been removed for covering up for guilty clergy.

Read more in the National Catholic Reporter here.

A St Joseph woman pleaded guilty Monday to charges of child abuse or neglect in connection with what law enforcement officials called the malnutrition-related death of her baby boy.

McCayla Jo Armstrong is being held pending sentencing May 28.

The charge is a Class-A felony and carries a range of possible sentences, from 10 years to a maximum of 30 years or life in prison.

According to a court affidavit, the defendant failed to provide reasonable and necessary care to maintain the physical health of the child. Officials say Armstrong failed to provide healthy and sanitary living conditions, food, nourishment and medical care.

Anthony Douglas Armstrong, age seven months, died in December of last year.

A man charged with dozens of sex offenses agreed to a plea bargain Monday, pleading guilty to three of the charges. James Swett admitted his guilt to three of the charges of first degreee child molestation, one for each of the underage victims.

Andrew County Circuit Judge Weldon Judah imposed three concurrent terms of 15 years, for a 15-year controlling prison sentence.

“According to the youngest victim’s mother, the boy has regressed since the preliminary hearing,” said Andrew County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Stevenson in an interview.

 

“They were really upset as you can imagine,” Stevenson said. “A trial will often interrupt the healing process for the victims, and we need to bear that in mind.”

Stevenson says all three of the victims preferred resolving the case over being forced to return to court for a trial.

“These monsters prey on that,” Stevenson said. “This way, we get some significant punishment, and we won’t have to come back for a trial.”

Mr Stevenson says many of the 50 or so charges he filed were “alternative counts,” which meant he could not have received two convictions for the same set of facts.  He says there were a  dozen or so actual incidents involved.

Mr Swett was arrested in Minnesota where he had fled to avoid prosecution last June.

Under current law, Mr Swett must serve at least 85% of the controlling sentence.

An inmate at the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron has died in custody.

In a news release, the Missouri Department of Corrections reported the death of Kourtney Kennedy Saturday morning.

Kennedy, 51, was serving a 40-year sentence for his Second Degree Murder conviction in Greene County. Mr Kennedy was received in the Missouri Department of Corretions on June 7, 1983.

Officials do not suspect foul play, but an autopsy is planned.