A surprise apology from our disgraced Bishop Raymond Lahey today, and also an opportunity for the judge to view some of Lahey’s child porn collection. At times the judge was unable to mask his revulsion.
The child porn photos were viewed only by the judge, the lawyers and a detective, however a brief description of what is depicted in each photo shown was given by the Crown. As brief as the description was it was more than suffice to unsettle most if not all those in attendance in court. More on the pictures later.
There has been much talk about whether or not Lahey will be granted 2:1 credit for time served. Today the judge announced that he will grant 2:1 credit. That, along with provision for remission, virtually guarantees that Lahey will be foot-loose-and-fancy-free after his sentencing on 04 January 2012.
In court today to witness part of the proceedings was a friend of the former Mount Cashel resident who alleges he was sexually abused by Lahey in the early to mid 80s. The former Mount Cashel resident, who first met Lahey in 1982 while Lahey served as chaplain at Mount Cashel, launched a lawsuit in April 2010. I don’t know the current status of the lawsuit
I will be back later to give more details on the events in court today. I was home late today – after court wrapped up for the day around 4 pm I was off to drop of some Christams gifts – home at 8:30 pm. I have some baking to do now so must get things into the oven before I do another thing 🙂
I have posted several articles:
20 December 2011: Disgraced bishop in child-porn case ‘truly sorry’
20 December 2011: Horrific images in ex-bishop’s porn stash
20 December 2011: Lahey surprises courtroom with request to speak
20 December 2011: Disgraced Bishop Lahey apologizes for his Internet porn addiction
Enough for now,
Sylvia