Vatican tosses out Canada ex-bishop over child porn

A former Catholic bishop convicted of importing child pornography -- including some laced with religious imagery -- into Canada has been stripped of his religious duties, the church said Wednesday.

"The Holy See has dismissed Raymond Lahey from the clerical state, one of the most serious penalties that the church can impose," said a statement from Brian Dunn, the new bishop of Antigonish.

Raymond Lahey, 71, resigned as head of the Nova Scotia diocese in 2009 after a search at the Ottawa airport of his laptop computer uncovered a cache of child pornography.

He pleaded guilty in May 2011 to charges of possessing for the purpose of importing child pornography and was later sentenced to 15 months in prison but walked out of court a free man in January after already serving time in jail.

Among more than 600 photographs and videos found by police were scenes of bondage and boys in sex acts wearing a crucifix and rosary beads.

Lahey had asked the church to strip him of his duties and "to be reduced to a layman's status," his lawyer Michael Edelson had said after the court proceedings.

AFP