In court, the defence and Crown agreed on a set of facts that were summarized in the courtroom but were sealed from the public because of the child porn content.
Det. Andrew Thompson, the Ottawa police officer who did the forensic exam of Lahey's laptop and other electronic devices, gave brief descriptions of some of the 588 images and 60 videos he found that depicted boys as young as 8-10 engaging in sexual acts with each other or with adult males. He also found pornographic stories on the bishop's hard drives — one running to 300 pages in length — that he categorized under five themes: mastery and slavery involving adults and young boys; humiliation of young boys; torture of young boys; sex acts between young boys; and degradation of young boys or forcing sex acts on them.
Lahey, who wore a tweed jacket, beige pants and carried a small blue bag, sat calmly in the packed courtroom in a row in front of journalists until he was granted permission to sit with his lawyers. He refused to answer questions as he entered the courthouse.
The judge said he was satisfied Lahey was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He decided against the Crown's request for a pre-sentence report. He agreed with Lahey's counsel the detailed report of the forensic psychiatrist Dr. John Bradford and other information already gathered about Lahey's personal life was enough. Edelson told the court that bishops have no supervisor other than the Pope. "The Pope's not going to be taking a call from the probation officer," he said.
Bradford was unable to come to court May 4, so a date needs to be set for his cross-examination before sentencing will take place. Lahey's lawyers will be in court May 26 to determine a date for a sentence hearing.
"My client feels very deeply and profoundly remorseful for what he has done," said defence counsel Michael Edelson told the court May 4. He said Lahey was waiving his right to bail. "He is asking to be incarcerated this morning to signal to the court the sincerity and genuineness of his remorse."
Lahey smiled a couple of times at his defence counsel, and then waited for a police officer to escort him out of the courtroom.
On Sept. 15, 2009, a Canadian Border Services (CBSA) agent flagged Lahey for a secondary search when he returned to Canada aboard a flight from London. He had been traveling alone and his passport showed he had visited Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Germany. When asked what he did for a living, he replied he was a priest who did missionary work, according to the statement of facts.
The agent asked him about what electronic gear he was carrying and noted how Lahey's demeanor changed from being "calm, friendly and forthcoming," to "nervous, quiet and resisting eye contact" when she asked him about whether he had a laptop. A preliminary inspection revealed images of young males engaged in sex acts. The Ottawa police were contacted and continued the investigation, finding several more images.
Lahey denied to the CBSA agent an interest in child pornography but admitted an attraction to young males 18-21, as well as those older than that.
The highest canonical penalty Lahey could face is dismissal from the clerical state, what used to be called defrocking, said Canon Lawyer Fr. Frank Morrisey. Ontologically, he remains a priest forever, but he would no longer be considered a cleric, he said.
"He could be deprived of the right to take part in any meeting of conference of bishops or an ecumenical council or a papal audience, or they could forbid from exercising an public ministry and make that a perpetual penalty," he said.
Further penalties will all be at the level of the Vatican, he said. "All cases of bishops reserved directly to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."
"He could be assigned residence and not allowed to leave on his own," he said, noting that Lahey had already resigned from his office as Antigonish bishop.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) issued a statement following Lahey's conviction condemning "all forms of sexual exploitation, especially involving minors" and said it "continues to work to prevent such behaviour and to bring healing to the victims and their families."
"Recognizing the confusion and anger that this case has engendered among many of the faithful, we underscore our pastoral concern for those who have experienced great pain as a result of these events," the CCCB said. "In a special way our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Diocese of Antigonish and all the Atlantic region."
"We reiterate the Catholic Church's long-standing condemnation of the possession, distribution and use of child pornographic images in all forms, and renew our resolve to do everything we can to promote the dignity and respect of the human person."