Canadian police detective: Bishop Lahey's child-inappropriate content collection "among the worst he..

[Michie]

...has seen" in hundreds of cases

Bishop in disgrace

inappropriate contentographic photos of boys on Lahey’s laptop ranged from soft-core nudes to images of torture


A DISGRACED ROMAN CATHOLIC bishop betrayed little emotion Thursday as a court was told his laptop contained hundreds of inappropriate contentographic images of young boys — including photos of torture.

Raymond Lahey was in an Ottawa court for sentencing in a child-inappropriate content case that has rocked his former Nova Scotia archdiocese of Antigonish.

The 71-year-old cleric pleaded guilty in May to importing child inappropriate contentography and voluntarily went to jail to begin serving time even before a formal sentencing.

A second charge of simple possession remains against Lahey, but it is expected to be withdrawn as part of the plea deal when he is formally sentenced later this year.

Close to 600 photos, mostly of young teen boys, were found on Lahey’s Toshiba laptop and a hand-held device when he was stopped at the Ottawa International Airport in September 2009.

An Ottawa police detective told the court Thursday that the images ranged from soft-core nude shots to far more gruesome photos.

"Some of them were quite graphic," Det. Andrew Thompson said.
"There were images of nude boys, but there were also torture and stuff like that."

As Thompson answered questions from the witness stand about the contents of Lahey’s laptop, the bishop sat quietly, his right hand trembling slightly as he ran his index finger along his mouth, chin and the cleft between his nose and upper lip.

Continued- http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1256776.html

 

[Gwendolyn]

Absolutely disgusting. Makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[sylverpiano]

I hope this guy has a good lawyer and gets a fair trial. If he is found guilty, he should go to jail for a very long time.

 

[Michie]

I think he'll be going to jail for a very long time. I don't see him being there long though. I think someone will kill him.

 

[benedictaoo]

At what point do we stop thinking these are all isolated incidences and realize something is just not right.

 

[Michie]

At what point do we stop thinking these are all isolated incidences and realize something is just not right.

Something isn't right with society as a whole.

Whats stinks is this went on so long within the Church.

 

[benedictaoo]

"Kids are safest when child predators are jailed, so we sincerely hope that Lahey is put behind bars, and we urge anyone who was a member of the Antigonish diocese who saw, suspected, or suffered these crimes to come forward and tell their story to civil — not church — authorities. Please remember that there is no greater weapon for a pedophile than silence."

yep.

 

[isshinwhat]

Something isn't right with society as a whole.

Whats stinks is this went on so long within the Church.

Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Report claims wide homosexual network in Miami archdiocese

 

[benedictaoo]

Something isn't right with society as a whole.

Whats stinks is this went on so long within the Church.

what I mean is something was/is seriously wrong that so many clerics are into child abuse. It can no longer be denied and that its just 1% or what ever. I don't believe it.

It doesn't make sense. Something went very wrong.

 

[Michie]

what I mean is something was/is seriously wrong that so many clerics are into child abuse. It can no longer be denied and that its just 1% or what ever. I don't believe it.

It doesn't make sense. Something went very wrong.

Well, what bothers me more is that it was known about & basically covered up.

But it does not suprise me, this is rampant in protestantism too.

Wheat & chaff.

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

what I mean is something was/is seriously wrong that so many clerics are into child abuse. It can no longer be denied and that its just 1% or what ever. I don't believe it.

It doesn't make sense. Something went very wrong.

The number of clerics that are pedophiles is no different than the general male population. It seems to be a bigger problem because the media will report every incident and allegation, why ignoring all the men involved in other modes of life. About the only time you hear of pedophile teachers is when a woman is involved in a teenage boy... and you can probably guess why those stories come up.

The lawsuits have to do with the idea that the Catholic Church is very rich and taking a few million here and there won't hurt anyone.

Nevertheless, the idea that any cleric would be into pedophilia is problematic. Certainly, bishops were not doing what was right for many years. There is a definite mentality of protecting the Church from outside forces and scandal. People in seminary/church are taught that scandal is a terrible thing and needs to be avoided through how they act.

Religion is often a way for people to run from things. So some men are tempted to get more into their faith. Then they want to go even further by becoming priests. That still doesn't satisfy them, so they work their way to being bishops. Eventually, they find that they have nothing more to do to escape their problems except sex, drugs, inappropriate contentography, alcohol, etc.

 

[Rhamiel]

At what point do we stop thinking these are all isolated incidences and realize something is just not right.

was there something in the article to make us think that this was more then just an isolated incident?

what I mean is something was/is seriously wrong that so many clerics are into child abuse. It can no longer be denied and that its just 1% or what ever. I don't believe it.

It doesn't make sense. Something went very wrong.

how many clerics are mentioned in the article? I thought it was just about one Bishop...

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

Well, what bothers me more is that it was known about & basically covered up.

But it does not suprise me, this is rampant in protestantism too.

Wheat & chaff.

If there is anything that I have learned, religion is an addiction that seems safer than the others.

 

[benedictaoo]

Well, what bothers me more is that it was known about & basically covered up.

But it does not suprise me, this is rampant in protestantism too.

Wheat & chaff.

No offense but so what about Protestantism... I'm over thinking somehow this is not as bad as we can clearly see that it is becuase other ppl do it to.

This is the Catholic Church and these men signed up to serve God and the ppl of God but they didn't really, they ended up raping children and its in every country just about.

Its been covered up exactly the same way. Something went terribly wrong somewhere.

 

[Gwendolyn]

The number of clerics that are pedophiles is no different than the general male population. It seems to be a bigger problem because the media will report every incident and allegation, why ignoring all the men involved in other modes of life. About the only time you hear of pedophile teachers is when a woman is involved in a teenage boy... and you can probably guess why those stories come up.

I dunno, SA. It was recently revealed that TWENTY-TWO pedophile priests have been charged in my diocese within the last decade. Of those, only a handful were from the 50s-70s. Most were recent, 1990s-now. We only have 150 or so priestsi n the diocese.

I think we have to admit that there really is something wrong. These men may be taking refuge in the cloth, thinking that their perversions will magically go away if they live a holy life. Then they find themselves in parish settings, constantly surrounded by children, and they realise that it won't go away... and they make the step toward abuse.

Other, more sinister men may take the cloth on purpose so that they can automatically have a position of trust and authority. Makes it easier to groom children for abuse.

It chills me to the bone.

 

[benedictaoo]

If there is one thing I learned is, denial isn't just a river.

This is happening all over and it doesn't help the situation to be in denial about how bad the situation is.

Kids are being hurt, Catholics are leaving the Church and priests and bishops who do this are damning themselves basically.

The way ppl want to shrug it off and not act like this is a serious situation is like not wanting to deal with the elephant in the room.

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

Unfortunately, I don't think the issue is going to go away any time soon. The Church seems to have a knee-jerk reaction to whom they are looking at to ordain. So they pick the guys that seem most perfect when it is all an act. They have something to hide. Look at Fr. Cutie.

The guys that don't act perfect, seem authentic with all their flaws shown are the ones that get the hardest time and pushed away. They are picked on because doing that makes the leaders feel they are doing something more proactive.

 

[benedictaoo]

I dunno, SA. It was recently revealed that TWENTY-TWO pedophile priests have been charged in my diocese within the last decade. Of those, only a handful were from the 50s-70s. Most were recent, 1990s-now. We only have 150 or so priestsi n the diocese.

I think we have to admit that there really is something wrong. These men may be taking refuge in the cloth, thinking that their perversions will magically go away if they live a holy life. Then they find themselves in parish settings, constantly surrounded by children, and they realise that it won't go away... and they make the step toward abuse.

Other, more sinister men may take the cloth on purpose so that they can automatically have a position of trust and authority. Makes it easier to groom children for abuse.

It chills me to the bone.

yep and It may just be that God finally wants this exposed so it can stop. When we blow it off, we enable them.

 

[benedictaoo]

Unfortunately, I don't think the issue is going to go away any time soon. The Church seems to have a knee-jerk reaction to whom they are looking at to ordain. So they pick the guys that seem most perfect when it is all an act. They have something to hide. Look at Fr. Cutie.

The guys that don't act perfect, seem authentic with all their flaws shown are the ones that get the hardest time and pushed away. They are picked on because doing that makes the leaders feel they are doing something more proactive.

that's a problem and it needs to be dealt with.

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

We can always pray. It causes me to despair at times.