cnews.canoe.ca
16 May 2012
By Doug Hempstead, QMI Agency
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OTTAWA –
Disgraced Roman Catholic bishop Raymond Lahey, convicted in January of importing child pornography, has been dismissed from the clerical state.
The announcement came today from Lahey’s former diocese in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
In a statement released to the media, the diocese explained Lahey can no longer work as a cleric or preside over religious services and sacraments following the decision by the Holy See in Rome.
It is among the most serious penalties in the Catholic Church.
“This decision reminds all of us of the serious harms that come from all forms of pornography, especially child pornography,” Antigonish Bishop Brian Joseph Dunn said in a statement.
Lahey was sentenced to 15 months in jail and two years probation for being found in possession child porn when his laptop and phone were checked at the Ottawa airport in the fall of 2009.
Airport officials noticed stamps on his passport for East Asian child sex haunts. They found sex toys in his carry-on bag and a laptop of porn — 155,000 images, mostly of adults.
But the border agents also found one of a boy fellating men.
He wasn’t sent to prison due to the amount of time he had already served waiting for the trial.
“The lives of many have been seriously altered as a result of the challenges that have arisen,” said Dunn.
“Moreover, the life of Raymond Lahey has been radically changed by his actions and this decision.”
Lahey is currently serving two years probation and is now a registered sex offender. He had to submit a sample of his DNA and has to stay away from places where children hang out.
doug.hempstead@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @DougHempstead