N Scotia Bishop Faces Child Porn Charge, Alison Auld, Toronto Star, October 1, 2009

N. Scotia Bishop Faces Child Porn Charge

By Alison Auld
Toronto Star
October 1, 2009

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/703635

Bishop Raymond Lahey is shown in this April, 2003 file photo.

News comes weeks after he denounced child abuse in $15 million settlement of class-action lawsuit

HALIFAX–A bishop based in Nova Scotia has been charged with possessing and importing child pornography, just weeks after his diocese reached a $15 million settlement with people who said they were abused by priests as children.

Raymond Lahey, 69, resigned from his post with the Roman Catholic diocese of Antigonish on the weekend before news of the charges became public Wednesday.

Ottawa police said in a news release that border services searched Lahey's laptop at the Ottawa airport Sept. 15 as he returned from a foreign country. They "found images ... that were of concern."

Border guards seized the laptop and other media devices.

"The forensic examination of the computer and media later revealed child pornography," the release said.

Lahey was released at the airport pending further investigation. A warrant was issued for his arrest Friday, when charges were laid.

Anthony Mancini, the archbishop of Halifax, said he spoke briefly with Lahey on his cellphone earlier Wednesday after learning of the charges through the media, but he doesn't know where he is.

Father Paul Abbass, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Antigonish, said he learned of the charges from media reports.

"I'm sad, I'm shocked," he said from his parish in Frenchvale, N.S. "I think I'm mostly concerned about our people, about our priests, about our diocese."

Abbass said he learned a couple of days before Lahey's resignation that he was considering stepping down.

A notice Saturday from Mancini said the Pope accepted Lahey's resignation "for personal reasons."

Lahey, a native of Newfoundland and Labrador, informed his parishioners in a letter the same day that he'd resigned "to take some much-needed time for personal renewal."

In August, the bishop announced a $15 million class action settlement involving sexual abuse in the diocese.

The lawsuit claimed five priests sexually assaulted children in their care between 1960 and 2008. Several were convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse.

Lahey, who had been at the diocese for only the last six years, was not implicated in the case.

John McKiggan, the Halifax lawyer who represents the alleged victims in the class-action suit, said he was stunned to learn of the charges.

"Like many people, I expect, I am very surprised," he said.

When the settlement was announced, Lahey said it was the first step in recognizing the alleged abuse of children.

"Sexual abuse, indeed any abuse, is wrong. It is a crime and it is a serious sin in the eyes of God. I want to assure you that for some time our diocese, like others throughout Canada, have been taking steps to protect children and youth."

Mancini has been appointed administrator of the diocese.