By Tony Spears
Toronto Sun
August 4, 2011
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/04/torture-photos-on-ex-bishops-computer-court-hears
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| Ex-bishop Raymond Lahey pleaded guilty in May to importing child pornography. (TONY CALDWELL/QMI Agency Files) |
Cops found thousands of "borderline" sex pictures on ex-bishop Raymond Lahey's computer, in addition to nearly 600 images of genuine child porn, a court heard Thursday.
Lahey, 71, pleaded guilty in May to importing child pornography. He was arrested at the Ottawa airport on Sept. 15, 2009, after returning from London.
Cops found 588 child porn images, about 60 videos and a selection of child porn stories.
One collection, entitled "The Masturbation Chronicles," features a character named Father Raymond.
Defence lawyer Solomon Friedman got an Ottawa police detective to admit that Lahey might not have seen about half of the images found on his computer.
About 300 were in a folder used to store temporary Internet files, which can be created without the user having seen them, Det. Andrew Thompson testified.
The other half of Lahey's collection was with the other porn — "a dump of material," Friedman said.
Thompson also said he found no evidence that Lahey tried to pay for child porn. Nor did Lahey have file-sharing software on his computer.
Friedman suggested that most of the images were less aggravating nude poses, but Thompson didn't bite.
"There was also torture and stuff like that," Thompson said.
Some of the stories "were extremely hardcore," he added.
Lahey, the former bishop of Antigonish, N.S., remains in custody after he asked to get a head start on his sentence when he entered his guilty plea on May 5.
Though he has not been sentenced, the charge comes with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in jail.
The sentencing hearing is to continue in December with testimony from psychiatrists who examined Lahey.
Contact: tony.spears@sunmedia.ca
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