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  Nova Scotia Bishop Found with Child Porn Gets Strict Bail Conditions

By Megan Gillis
Edmonton Sun
October 1, 2009

http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/canada/2009/10/01/11238431.html

OTTAWA — Hours after he surrendered to police today, a Nova Scotia bishop facing child pornography charges was released on bail under strict conditions — including that the 69-year-old stay off MSN and Twitter.

They're aimed at keeping Raymond Lahey, a man once hailed as a voice for child sex abuse survivors, off the Internet and away from kids.

The diminutive priest, grey-haired and clad in an argyle sweater, was grim-faced and silent as he — accompanied by lawyer Michael Edelson — pressed through a crowd of reporters into the police station to be fingerprinted, photographed and possibly interrogated early in the afternoon.

He looked more relaxed and chatted with lawyers before leaving the courthouse after a brief bail hearing, resolutely ignoring the trailing TV cameras as he walked down Elgin St.

His only words had been to politely thank Judge Richard Sculthorpe for granting him bail and promising to abide by his conditions.

Edelson will next appear in court on his behalf Nov. 4.

Lahey was charged with possessing and importing child pornography on Friday, 10 days after Canada Border Service officials found images "of concern" in a secondary search of his laptop as he entered Canada via Ottawa.

The computer was seized after what Ottawa Police spokesman Const. Alain Boucher said today was a random search. Lahey was released.

"We can't make a determination right there and then," Boucher said. "It's not just looking at the photos — there may be more files that are hidden on the computer."

Police say forensic examination of the computer and media devices revealed child pornography.

Lahey suddenly resigned from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish over the weekend — before the charges were made public — telling parishoners he was going to "take some much-needed time for personal renewal."

He vanished from his home there.

"We were actively looking for him," Boucher said, until Lahey's lawyer notified police today morning that he would surrender.

The arrest comes just weeks after Lahey announced that the diocese had reached a $15-million settlement with people who say that they were abused by priests as children.

A lawsuit alleged that children were sexually assaulted by five priests between 1960 and 2008. Several were convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse.

Contact: megan.gillis@sunmedia.ca

 
 

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