Lahey back in court in December

By 
  • November 6, 2009
{mosimage}OTTAWA - The child-pornography case against Bishop Raymond Lahey has been put off until Dec. 16 following a request by Lahey’s lawyer.

Lahey was to appear in court on Nov. 4 but his lawyer asked for additional disclosure of evidence related to charges laid Sept. 25 of possessing and importing child pornography.

The former Antigonish bishop could still face additional charges in Nova Scotia, where RCMP  executed a search warrant Oct. 13, seizing computers and electronic equipment from Lahey’s residences. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Brigdit Leger said the forensic analysis could take several weeks.

The information used to obtain the Nova Scotia search warrant gave a glimpse of the material Ottawa police allege was found on Lahey’s laptop and other devices: hundreds of pornographic images and dozens of videos of young men engaged in sexual acts, including images of boys as young as eight to 10.

In Newfoundland, retired St. John’s Archbishop Alphonsus Penney is not commenting on allegations he was told 20 years ago Lahey kept pornography of teenaged boys when he was a monsignor in Penney’s archdiocese.

Lahey has been staying at a priests’ residence in Ottawa following his release on bail.

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