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	Accused Nova Scotia Bishop Released on Bail By Richard Foot Vancouver Sun October 1, 2009 http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Search+bishop+facing+child+porn+charges/2054526/story.html The former Roman Catholic bishop of Antigonish, N.S., ended his brief turn as a fugitive Thursday, handing himself over to police in Ottawa. Raymond Lahey, 69, walked grimly and silently through a crowd of reporters and photographers into the police station, where he was fingerprinted and interrogated by investigators for the first time. Once hailed as a brave advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse, Lahey faces one count of possession and one count of importation of child pornography, after the discovery of images on his laptop computer at Ottawa's airport while he was returning from a foreign visit on Sept. 15. He was released on bail later Thursday. Lahey resigned suddenly and mysteriously from his post on Saturday after charges were filed against him, but not made public, the previous day. He then disappeared from his home in Antigonish, prompting police to issue a warrant for his arrest. Neither his neighbours, nor staff and clergy in the Diocese of Antigonish, said they knew where he was. On Thursday afternoon, he was escorted into police headquarters in Ottawa by his lawyer, Michael Edelson. Lahey offered no comment, and Edelson told the group of reporters and cameramen waiting outside to clear the way as the two went through the crowd. Lahey is well known in Nova Scotia as the bishop who did what no previous Catholic leader had done before: accept responsibility and apologize — without any resort to litigation — for the sex-abuse crimes of a former priest in his diocese. The victims of that abuse, dating back to the 1950s, are now eligible for compensation from a $15-million out-of-court settlement Lahey negotiated earlier this year. Lahey was in the midst of a difficult fundraising effort across his diocese to generate money for the settlement, when he was pulled aside by Canada Border Services agents for a random check of his laptop at Ottawa International Airport on Sept. 15. Det. Dan Melchiorre, the lead investigator on the case and a member of the Ottawa Police High Tech Crimes Unit, says Lahey was not known to the Ottawa Police, or a target of its ongoing, anti-child porn program, before his arrival at the airport. Rather, he says Lahey "triggered" the interest of airport security agents who then conducted a secondary search of his computer. Melchiorre won't say what those specific triggers were. He says authorities seized Lahey's laptop, which allegedly contained images of child pornography — plus a number of thumb drives, which are small, portable plug-in devices that store digital pictures and information. Melchiorre says forensic investigators haven't yet examined all of Lahey's seized devices, and that information from them may result in changes, or additions, to the two criminal charges Lahey currently faces. "Nothing is ruled out," he says. "These types of investigations can reveal a number of things. We're looking at all kinds of different avenues, with regards to how the images got (onto Lahey's computer drives), and where they went." RCMP in Nova Scotia said no warrants have been issued for a search of Lahey's home. At a news conference in Sydney, N.S., Anthony Mancini, the Archbishop of Halifax, declined to make specific comments about Lahey's case, but instead offered his pastoral support to members of the church in Cape Breton and northern Nova Scotia. Archbishop James Weisgerber, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a separate statement Thursday, saying he was "shocked and saddened by the accusations" against Lahey. "I share with all Canadians, particularly my Catholic brothers and sisters, a profound understanding of the importance of such serious charges being fully and carefully investigated by the appropriate legal authorities." Lahey was to be released on $9,000 bail by 5 p.m. local time Thursday. His next court appearance is Nov. 4 in Ottawa. The judge imposed strict restrictions on Lahey, who will be living at a residence on Rogersville, N.B., until his next court date. Among the bail conditions, Lahey is not permitted to visit parks or public libraries, be in the company of children or youth under the age of 18 unless a parent is present, cannot possess a computer or encryption devices, access the Internet, use a webcam or visit computer stores. The residence he is staying at in New Brunswick was described as a "large residence" where Internet access is available.
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