Halifax Chronicle Herald

Wed. Oct 7 - 4:46 AM

By LAURA FRASER Cape Breton Bureau

Bishop Raymond Lahey will be living in the Ottawa region while awaiting his next court appearance on child pornography charges, according to a spokesman for the Ottawa Police Service.

The former bishop for the Diocese of Antigonish had been expected to stay at the Cistercian-Trappist Monastery of Our Lady of Calvary in Rogersville, N.B.

But Const. Alain Boucher said Tuesday that the bishop told police earlier in the day that he would be staying somewhere else.

Const. Boucher would not say exactly where Bishop Lahey would be living.

"I don’t think part of his conditions (of his bail is) to give a reason," the officer said. "He just has to notify the investigating officer of the change of address."

Questions surrounding the bishop’s whereabouts arose after the abbot for the Rogersville monastery posted a notice on its website saying that Bishop Lahey would not be staying there.

"The press seems to have anticipated something that may have been discussed in the court proceedings but was not definitively decided upon," Abbot Bede Stockill wrote on Sunday. "Ultimately, some other arrangement has been made for Bishop Lahey’s residence."

Abbot Stockill could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Bishop Lahey resigned his post with the Diocese of Antigonish on Sept. 26, a day after Ottawa police charged him with possession and importation of child pornography.

He surrendered to police in Ottawa last Thursday after his laptop was seized by the Canada Border Service Agency during a random check at the Ottawa International Airport on Sept. 15.

Police said a forensic investigation allegedly found child pornography on the computer belonging to the former bishop.

Bishop Lahey will return to court in Ottawa Nov. 4.

( lfraser@herald.ca)