# Bishop negotiates child sex settlement, and then . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257 "2009-10-01T18:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/81 "2012-01-04T16:39:15Z")
Thank you for the update. I wonder where he will end up, and who will be paying him. I would appreciate further updates. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/82 "2012-01-04T16:59:02Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > At least if he apologizes again, we know he’s probably got something new stashed on his computer Or he’s got a jump drive in his pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/83 "2012-01-04T17:51:06Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I do not belive that the punishment was anywhere near severe enough. Correct and then some. Here’s a (okay, it’s Wiki, but there are other sources) amplification on the earlier post (much earlier) that Lahey had been reported as having illicit porn years ago and no one acted on it: > [@](#): > > On October 2, 2009 it was revealed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the former Bishop of Antigonish, Raymond Lahey, who is currently facing criminal charges in connection to a September 15, 2009 incident, was observed in the mid-1980s as having possessed child pornography material while a minister at a suburban St. John’s parish. > > This accusation was made in 1989 by a then-Mount Cashel resident to the Hughes Commission; the resident had been visiting Lahey’s house at the time when the material was noticed. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary never acted upon the revelation and did not begin an investigation. Meanwhile, in the Joe Paterno thread, we have a couple of people persistently (I think it’s mainly hubris-driven unwillingness to admit defeat, but still creepy enough) claiming that when Paterno heard about “extreme sexual contact with a boy that was way over the line,” he could legitimately have been scratching his head about just what that meant, so there was no moral need to go to the cops. In a vacuum, that might be some technically defensible Jesuitical (hah) argument (no it’s not, because there’s no form of sexual contact with a kid, or child pornography, that is questionably legal). But the even more important fact is that we’re not in a vacuum. We live in a connected world where every responsible adult should know that time and again those in authority have heard reports of sketchy to potentially or definitely illegal interactions of authority figures with children, and have discounted, dawdled, delayed, ignored, covered them up, with horrible results. We **know enough** to know that for some reason, this is a universal human weak spot/tendency. It’s just like we need stringent protection for whistleblowers, because it’s human nature to blame the victim. Both the authorities and the institutions need to send unambiguous messages that this bad conduct won’t be tolerated and that even marginally credible reports of sex abuse will be chased down vigorously. The Canadian government (in both its initial investigations and in Lahey’s sentencing/release) failed on that score, IMHO, and of course the RCC institutionally failed badly, badly, as it has on other occasions (I say this as someone who wants to be favorably inclined to the Church, too). ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/84 "2012-01-04T23:18:40Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Or he’s got a jump drive in his pocket. No, he’s just happy to see you ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/85 "2012-01-04T23:49:11Z")
[http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/04/courtroom-fury-as-catholic-bishop-walks-free-just-hours-after-child-porn-sentencing/](http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/04/courtroom-fury-as-catholic-bishop-walks-free-just-hours-after-child-porn-sentencing/) > [@](#): > > During an earlier court appearance, Lahey told Justice Kirkland he had an “indiscriminate” addiction to online pornography but didn’t seek help because of his high-ranking position in the church. He blames his addiction. He blames his church. Pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/86 "2012-01-05T15:21:46Z")
I must say it is possible that if your porn stash is large and indiscriminate enough, there would be pictures that could count as child porn - Traci Lords photos, for instance, where those are considered such - without it being deliberate. 588 photos and 33 vids is not such a circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/87 "2012-01-05T16:29:51Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=4169 > > Other stories and comments speak of the need to tiptoe around this kind of thinking as it may piss off gay activists, but … there it is. Oh, well, as long as “[catholicculture.org](http://catholicculture.org)” can blame the fact that the largest Church on the world is rotten from top to bottom with child rapists on “gay activists” I guess you can sleep at night. Jolly good, you irredeemable piece of human garbage. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/88 "2012-01-05T16:44:09Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > Oh, well, as long as “[catholicculture.org](http://catholicculture.org)” can blame the fact that the largest Church on the world is rotten from top to bottom with child rapists on “gay activists” I guess you can sleep at night. Jolly good, you irredeemable piece of human garbage. Um, **salinqmind** appears to not believe what they are saying if I understand him/her. > [@salinqmind](#): > > Yes, it was the Jeff Mirus site. There’s no use arguing with those people, they have one track minds and welcome opposing views only to argue their ideas all the louder. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/89 "2012-01-05T17:25:34Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > I wonder where he will end up, and who will be paying him. I would appreciate further updates. [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/01/05/nl-currie-vatican-105.html?cmp=rss](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/01/05/nl-currie-vatican-105.html?cmp=rss) > [@](#): > > In Newfoundland, Martin Currie, the archbishop of St. John’s, said Catholic officials in Rome are responding to the case. > > “The Vatican has informed us that they are looking toward any possible disciplinary canonical penalties that the church itself may impose,” he said. > > “There are three possibilities. First would be dismissal from the clerical state altogether. Secondly, he could be sentenced to a life of prayer and penance in a monastery, which in a sense would be house arrest. A third would be that he may be able to celebrate eucharist privately, but he would not be able to identify himself as a cleric by title, by address or by association.” > > . . . . > > Lahey is still facing a civil lawsuit filed in St. John’s in 2010 that claims he sexually assaulted a former resident of the infamous Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John’s in the early 1980s. > > The lawsuit was filed by Todd Boland. > > Boland claims the sexual assaults, which his lawyer Greg Stack described as “fondling,” happened over four years beginning in 1982. > > In a statement of defence filed in court in June 2010, Lahey denies all claims of wrongdoing in the lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/90 "2012-01-05T17:55:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I must say it is possible that if your porn stash is large and indiscriminate enough, there would be pictures that could count as child porn - Traci Lords photos, for instance, where those are considered such - without it being deliberate. 588 photos and 33 vids is not such a circumstance. It doesn’t seem that it was a matter of mistaken age. Looks more like he was turned on by torture-sex with religious overtones of young males approaching puberty. I wonder what he may have been up to in south-east Asia? [From yesterday](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bishop-lahey-to-be-released-on-probation-in-child-porn-case/article2291058/): > [@](#): > > . . . Mr. Lahey’s collection included pornographic photos featuring Catholic imagery. Among the contents of Mr. Lahey’s laptop were pornographic stories about children which, like some of the photos, depicted torture. > > . . . . [From last May when Lahey pled guilty](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/atlantic/bishop-pleads-guilty-to-importing-child-pornography/article2009616/): > [@](#): > > . . . . > > Mr. Lahey had just arrived in Ottawa on a flight from London on Sept. 15, 2009, bearing a passport that contained stamps for Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia – notorious child-sex tourism destinations. > > . . . . > > Court heard that he had 588 images of child pornography involving boys on his laptop and a handheld device. The laptop also contained videos and text stories of child pornography. > > . . . . > > Mr. Lahey pleaded guilty to a single child pornography charge, “possession for the purposes of importation.” A second charge of simple possession remains, but it is expected to be formally withdrawn as part of Mr. Lahey’s plea deal when he’s sentenced. He is to return to court May 26 to set a sentencing date. > > . . . . > > Mr. Edelson said Mr. Lahey wanted to start serving time now in order to get credit after sentencing. > > . . . . > > According to that statement, the border agent sent Mr. Lahey for secondary luggage screening, where his laptop, handheld computer and personal sex toys were discovered. After giving border agents his computer password, they found graphic images of young boys involved in sexual acts. > > Ottawa police detectives were summoned to the airport and dug deeper into Mr. Lahey’s hard drive and directory of websites, where they uncovered the hundreds of examples of child pornography. > > The subjects in the images were classified as “borderline pre-pubescent.” > > . . . . > > The exhibits were ordered sealed by Justice Jack Kirkland, but an agreed statement of facts categorized the themes of the images that depicted young boys in sex acts. > > The five categories were “mastery and slavery,” humiliation of young boys, torture of young boys, sex acts between boys, and degradation of young boys. Several graphic examples of what that entailed were read out in court to provide an evidentiary basis to support the guilty plea. > > . . . . [From last August](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/atlantic/torture-photos-among-those-found-on-bishop-laheys-laptop-court-told/article2119607/): > [@](#): > > . . . . > > 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.” > > . . . . > > Police found three child-porn websites in Mr. Lahey’s web-browsing history, Mr. Thompson said. > > . . . . > > Among the contents of Mr. Lahey’s laptop were pornographic stories about children which, like some of the photos, depicted torture. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/91 "2012-01-05T18:06:45Z")
Am I the only one a bit weirded out by the fact that the cite on pedophilia mentioned by **Bricker** in this thread more than two years ago was written by a professor from…Penn State? That’s almost Twilight Zone creepy. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/92 "2012-01-05T18:08:29Z")
It’s all such crap. I’m sick to death of hearing everybody whine about the Catholic church and Penn State. Take a look at your local court system. Find out what happens when someone goes down to your local police station to report a child sex offense. Ask a local GAL (Guardian ad Litem) how hard it is to protect children from sexually abusive parents. It’s almost impossible, across the US to bring one of these guys to justice. In the very few cases where the charges can be proven to the satisfaction of a court, the penalties imposed are ridiculously light. Protective parents are forced to bring their children to the prison for regular visits with the parents criminally convicted of abusing them. In cases where one parent reports the other for sexual abuse, the reporter is twice as likely as the reportee to end up in jail. (Usually for refusing to deliver the child for court-ordered visitation.) Do your governmental representatives know how you want them to respond? Are your local Child Protection Services fully (or even reasonably) funded? Are your local police _allowed_ to act if CPS can’t afford to do so? You may be enormously surprised by the answers. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/93 "2012-01-05T18:48:08Z")
Non sequitur. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/94 "2012-01-05T19:16:27Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > [Update:](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/01/03/nl-raymond-lahey-sentencing-104.html) > > Time served and probation. > > Formally, 15 months plus two years probation, less two months for each month in jail since last May. > > He led the RC church in settling a multi-million dollar class action arising from priests buggering children for decades, but five days after the court approved the settlement, he was nabbed trying to bring hundreds of child porn photos and dozens of child porn videos into the country on his laptop. > > I do not belive that the punishment was anywhere near severe enough. I know someone serving many years in prison for one CD of images, only some of which involved children, that he copied off the Internet as a teenager (possibly not even a sexual thing, as he was competing in general “I can do things on the Internet you can’t” dumbassery with a friend). The _prosecution_ recommended _one_ year, but he’s been in for 5-6 so far. Maybe he should have been a priest. ---
**Author:** ![Renie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Renie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renie)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/95 "2012-01-07T04:11:15Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Hmmmm. Am I reading that right? If someone knew about this and alerted the cops, parents etc, that peron would be excommunicated? > > I’m a simpler person, not especially religious. > I wonder. If a person were to hear about this, since they can’t report it (under threat of excommunication), then would it be OK to shoot the sumbitch instead, thereby saving one’s soul (avoiding excommunication)? > > Gotta wonder. ACtually, if I remember right, Cardinal Ratzinger, appointed by Pope John Paul II, as head of…\_\_\_\_\_\_\_? (can’t remember his other title at the time) forwarded a letter to all RC clergy worldwide in 2001 reminding them of their law frm 1962 with the excommunication threat for co-operating with police. Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Bennedict. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/96 "2012-01-07T09:53:50Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Now, AFAIK nothing prevents a confessor from telling a penintent confessing his sins: “Part of your penance, to have your sin forgiven, is that you make amends to those affected by letting them take you before civilian justice.” But then again I’m not Pope and these sorts of ideas would probably keep me from the job. AFAIK, this is actually done. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/97 "2012-01-07T13:39:15Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > AFAIK, this is actually done. Can the priest even tell someone higher up about what was said, to at least have the priest removed from duty if he doesn’t get absolution? Can the perpetrator just go around priest shopping until he gets his absolution? Is there even teeth in this idea? Because, as far as I understand, priests aren’t infallible, and it’s possible to believe one has absolution even when a priest tells you you do not. If so, lack of absolution has no teeth even to the devoutly religious. Because, believe me, people with pedophilia can and will justify anything. I bet right now the subject of this thread has convinced himself that he didn’t do anything wrong since he just looked at child porn that already exists, and doesn’t hurt other kids. At least he’s not an actual molester… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/98 "2012-01-07T14:03:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Can the priest even tell someone higher up about what was said, to at least have the priest removed from duty if he doesn’t get absolution?.. Of course, he can’t. Secret of confession is absolute. > [@](#): > > Can the perpetrator just go around priest shopping until he gets his absolution? I did not consider that… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/99 "2012-05-21T00:19:05Z")
Update: The Roman Catholic Church, after over two and a half years since the arrest, and months after the conviction, [finally got around to defrocking Bishop Lahey](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/roman-catholic-bishop-convicted-of-child-pornography-stripped-of-clerical-duties/article2434760/). Way too little way too late. In other news, [another Canadian Roman Catholic bishop](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/niagara-bishop-who-disappeared-amid-abuse-case-found-in-montreal/article2438146/)involved in a civil matter over an alleged lack of action while one of his priests buggered children has been located by a private investigation agency, and served. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257/100 "2012-05-21T00:28:35Z")
‘Defrocking’ sounds so… sexual. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bishop-negotiates-child-sex-settlement-and-then/512257.md?page=6)