ST. JOHN’S — The Roman Catholic Church in Newfoundland and Labrador says an allegation made more than 20 years ago about a bishop who is facing child-pornography charges was passed on to the archbishop of St. John’s.
In a statement today, Archbishop Martin Currie of St. John’s says a review shows Rev. Kevin Molloy did have a conversation with a teenager about what he asserts he saw in the home of Raymond Lahey, who was priest at the time in the St. John’s area.
Lahey recently resigned as bishop of the diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia, shortly before he was charged with possessing and importing child pornography in Ontario.
The statement says Molloy informed the archbishop of St. John’s at the time, Alphonsus Penney, what Shane Earle had told him. It does not say what action, if any, was taken by the archdiocese.
During a public inquiry into abuse at Mount Cashel in October 1989, Earle — a former resident of the orphanage — testified he saw something in Lahey’s home as a teenager in 1985 that disturbed him.
In an interview, Molloy says Earle told him he saw pornography in Lahey’s home.