Finding Bishops Porn an Out of Body Experience, CTV, October 7, 2009

Finding Bishop's Porn an 'Out of Body Experience'

CTV
October 7, 2009

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091007/bishop_folo_091007/20091007?hub=TopStoriesV2

[with video]

The man who alleged seeing child pornography in the home of former Roman Catholic bishop Raymond Lahey 20 years ago says the experience made him feel like his world was starting to "to spin out of control," feelings he says he has been dealing with for the past two decades.

Former Roman Catholic bishop Raymond Lahey arrives at a police station in Ottawa, Thursday, Oct.1, 2009.
Photo by Sean Kilpatric

In the early 1980s, when Shane Earle was living at the infamous Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's, he would visit Lahey, who was not yet a bishop, at his home outside the city.

In 1989, Earle told church officials of seeing images of child pornography in Lahey's home four years before. By 1989, Lahey was Bishop of St. George's, in western Newfoundland.

"I tell you it gave me an out of body experience I would never wish upon anybody," Earle told CTV News' Todd Battis on Wednesday in his first television interview. "And you're forced to deal with something that you never thought you'd ever see in your life. It's the first time that I'd ever seen anything like it. So the world around you as you thought you knew it starts to spin out of control."

Nothing came of Earle's allegations 20 years ago. Father Kevin Molloy told CTV News earlier this week that he knew of Earle's allegations, which he discussed with then-Archbishop Alphonsus Penney.

According to Molloy, he never heard about the issue again.

Lahey was arrested last week and charged with possessing and importing child pornography over images found on his computer during a random check at the Ottawa International Airport as he returned to Canada from another country.

Lahey immediately resigned as bishop of Antigonish, a position he held for six years.

Earle has had a difficult relationship with the Catholic Church for much of his life.

He and his brother, Billy, were among the scores of children who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of members of the Irish Christian Brothers, who ran the Mount Cashel Orphanage.

Earle was later a key witness at the Hughes Inquiry, which investigated the abuse and recommended compensation for the victims.

Lahey's arrest has created yet another painful experience for him, according to Battis.

"(Earle) thought he had put this behind him," Battis told CTV News Channel. "He had testified at the inquiry like so many people did hoping that changes would come, not only within the church but also within the justice system in Newfoundland, and he was sitting with me this morning saying he can't believe that he's back in this position."

Earle said Wednesday that on one hand he wasn't surprised to hear of Lahey's arrest, due to what he says he saw in the priest's home more than 20 years ago.

At the same time he was surprised, because so much time had gone by since he first went public with his allegations.

"In so many respects I was as shocked as I was at the time that I found the pornography in his house. It was something that I didn't expect to happen when it happened," Earle said. "Sure I knew in the back of my mind that the possibility was still there. But it was shocking, it was really shocking. And to see his face on TV and to hear what was being reported just brought back a flood of memories."

Earle said he learned of Lahey's arrest by watching the news, including images broadcast on CTV of the former bishop arriving at the Ottawa airport.

"I did see the lost (look) in his eyes when he was at the airport," Earle said. "He's probably at the lowest of the low in his life right now, but I think we have to put ourselves in a situation where we have control over our own lives and he has to be accountable."

Lahey will make his next court appearance on Nov. 4, and is now living somewhere in Ottawa. None of the charges against him have been proven in court.