This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive.

Bishop Lahey Child Pornography Sentencing: Disgraced Catholic Priest Gets 15 Months In Jail

Disgraced Bishop Sentenced

Disgraced Catholic Bishop Raymond Lahey has been sentenced to 15 months in jail for child pornography-related charges.

But Lahey will not have to serve any more jail time because he has already served eight months in prison and the judge will give him two-for-one credit for time served. Lahey pleaded guilty last May to one count of importing child pornography and voluntarily went to jail.

He will be on probation for 24 months and face a series of strict conditions, including submitting a DNA sample and registering as a sex offender. He will also have to allow searches of his personal and office computers when required by the authorities.

"It was exactly the right sentence," Lahey's lawyer Michael Edelson said to media hours after the sentence was handed down. Edelson also said that the sentence will mark Lahey for life. Edelson said that Lahey would not be speaking to the media and would not comment on what his immediate plans were.

I am truly sorry for what I have done," Lahey told the court as he apologized for his internet porn addiction.

"I know that I've done wrong."

Lahey was found with a large cache of pornography on his laptop during an airport security check in Ottawa in 2009.

The collection included pornographic photos featuring Catholic imagery, including young boys wearing crucifixes and rosary beads engaged in sex acts, and a man dressed as a monk hitting a young boy's bare buttocks with a paddle.

There were also graphic images of bondage and torture.

"They are graphic in the extreme," Crown attorney David Elhadad said during Lahey's sentencing.

With files from the Canadian Press

Close
This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.