Raymond Lahey


Raymond John Lahey is a Canadian former Bishop of the Catholic Church. He was Bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, from 2003 to 2009. Lahey was charged in 2009 with the importation of child pornography. He was suspended from the exercise of his priestly and sacramental functions, resigned as bishop in 2009, and was laicized in 2012.

Education

Lahey was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, on 29 May 1940. He attended St. Paul University at the University of Ottawa, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Theology in 1961, a Licentiate in Theology in 1963 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1966.
He was ordained on 13 June 1963.

Career

Lahey served in both clerical and academic positions first in Newfoundland and Labrador, and later in Nova Scotia.
On 7 August 2009, Lahey announced that the Diocese of Antigonish had reached a $15 million settlement in a class action lawsuit filed by victims of sexual abuse by diocese priests dating to 1950. The settlement was approved by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on 10 September 2009. In 2012 the diocese satisfied its legal obligations to pay out $15 million to the victims of sexual abuse, after selling a large number of its properties, liquidating the bank accounts of many of its churches, and borrowing $6.5 million from private lenders.

Criminal charges and laicization

On 15 September 2009, Lahey returned to Canada from London with a passport bearing visas from Thailand and other Asian countries.). At Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, Canada Border Services Agency officers performed a random search of Lahey's laptop computer and allegedly uncovered "images... that were of concern." Lahey was allowed to continue his journey home to Nova Scotia, but the computer was seized. The Ottawa Police Service alleged that a later forensic examination revealed child pornography.
Lahey pleaded guilty to a charge of "possession of child pornography for the purpose of importation" on 4 May 2011. He requested imprisonment, surrendering his right to bail. That same day, the Holy See acknowledged the plea and announced that it would continue its own process "which will result in the imposition of the appropriate disciplinary or penal measures". On 4 January 2012, he was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment and 24 months of probation. Under Canadian law, time spent in pre-trial detention was credited at a two-to-one rate against a criminal sentence. Lahey’s eight months in pre-trial detention counted as 16 months against his 15-month sentence, and he was discharged on the same day.
On 16 May 2012, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops announced that Lahey had been laicized.