UnNews:Trailer Park Supervisor Guilty in Child Porn Case not a Pedophile: Psychiatrist
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This article is part of UnNews, your source for up-to-the-picosecond misinformation. |
21 December 2011
Halifax, Nova Scotia - A disgraced Trailer Park supervisor who was busted for having hundreds of photos of young teen boys is not a pedophile, a court heard on Monday. Jim Lahey, 56, of the Sunnyvale Trailer Park went through extensive psychological testing after close to 600 photos, mostly of teen boys but some of adult men were discovered on his laptop after he was stopped at the Ottawa airport in 2009. Lahey was just returning from a drunken binge in Cuba with his partner Randy Bobandy when he was pulled aside and questioned. Authorities confiscated his laptop and let Lahey go. Several weeks later Lahey was arrested and charged after the photos were discovered.
A psychiatrist told the court during a sentencing hearing that the results of those tests indicate the 56 year old former trailer park supervisor and police officer is not a pedophile. The psychiatrist, Dr. John Bradford, told the court that Lahey is gay, has an attraction to younger men, and has an interest in sado-masochism. Even his longtime partner, Randy Bobandy, is nearly 20 years his junior.
Lahey does have several prior convictions for child abuse dating back to the mid to late 1980s. Two former Sunnyvale residents now in their early 40s testified that Lahey touched them inappropriately when they were teenagers growing up in the park. Both victims testified in today's hearing as evidence of Lahey's prior inappropriate sexual behaviour. The first man, known as "R" by the court, was identified as a chronic pot and cigarette smoker as well as an alcoholic. He told the court that "The greasy things Lahey did to me, screwed me up pikologically (sic). I self medicate with drugs and alcohol, can't hold down a job or relationship, and I live in a car". The other resident, who had a slightly better outcome, told the court the abuse still had a profound effect on him. "Jim took advantage of me, he lured me over with promises of free rum and a chance to watch Dirty Dancing which had just come out on VHS. He waited until I was heavily intoxicated and then he took advantage of me". As a result of the abuse, the second man also became an alcoholic but managed to stay away from cigarettes and only occasionally smoked dope. He credits his education, which he received through a local community college during a short stint in jail, with keeping him off hard drugs. As a result of the abuse, the second man, identified only as "J" lifts weights constantly in order to protect himself against possible future abuse. Both men have been in and out of jail since the abuse happened. Mostly its been for minor crimes but they have been convicted of several serious crimes including armed robbery and careless use of a firearm.
The first man, R, recalled some of the bizarre aspects of the abuse and of Lahey's behaviour. He says that Lahey would dress up as "Indianapolis Jones and force me to dress up as a bumblebee. He would then do greasy and nasty things to me that I don't really want to get into right now". On one occasion, Lahey's then wife walked in on the abuse but Lahey was able to explain it away by simply telling her that the two were "rehearsing for a play at the Blandford Recreation Centre". It was not until both men approached the authorties a few years later that Lahey was convicted. He only served 6 months in jail for the crime but was fired from the police force because of it. For many years Lahey denied the incidents even occurred but in the past few years admit they happened but insists the events were consensual. He says the reason he denied them in the past was so his wife Barbara wouldn't leave him.
To this day, Lahey has insists that he is innocent of his earlier convictions. He states he had consensual encounters with both men in the 1980s. He says they gladly traded sexual favours for rum and cigarettes and that they were both above the age of consent when the encounters occurred in 1986 and 1987. Lahey's defence lawyer aruged that regardless of whether Lahey was guilty or not, the crimes occurred 25 years ago, he has no further convictions or allegations, and there is no evidence he has harmed any children. The Crown is calling for a sentence of 18 to 22 months in jail but his lawyer Michael Edelson suggests community service, house arrest, and probation. "Jim's been through enough. His reputation is in tatters, what little of it is left anyways, his ex-wife and daughter don't even speak to him, and he's become a local pariah.". Edelson cites the fact that Lahey's reputation is in ruins, the aliention of his family, and the time he's served in custody while awaiting trial is punishment enough. It is not known what the judge will do but says that if he sentences Lahey to jail time, the time he's already served in custody will be subtracted from the total. Lahey has already plead guilty so there will be a sentence of some sort. Edelson says his client is a low risk to reoffend given his age, his lack of convictions over the past 20 years, and the fact that he is in loving and supportive relationship with his lover, Randy Bobandy.
Bobandy addressed the court as a character witness for Lahey, saying that Jim is basically a good man but has a problem with alcohol and porn. He admits that Lahey has always had an attraction to younger men but insists he isn't attracted to children. Bobandy himself, now 39, was only 19 when he entered into a secret relationship with Lahey in 1992. He then knew Jim as "Simon" and met him while prostituting for cheeseburgers in front of Dairy Queen. In 1997 they became an official couple after Lahey's wife divorced him citing "irreconsilable differences". They've been a couple ever since and are rarerly seen outside of each others company. "I can tell you to a moral certainty that Jim's never hurt any kids, he's hardly ever out of my sight" Bobandy said.
The judge thanked Bobandy for his testimony but says that even though Lahey has not abused anyone in over 20 years, child pornography is still a serious crime and requires a serious sentence. Although Lahey is technically not a pedophile, he still had pictures of underage minors on his computer and therefore must be punished for it. R and J, were pleased that the judge feels this way, both men say Lahey robbed them of their innocence and sent them down the wrong path. R told the court that "Lahey stole my dreams, I could have grown up to be anything, Doctor, Lawyer, Rocket Appliance. Because of what he did, all I was able to do is get my Grade 11 and grow pot. Growing pot is the only thing I'm good at. Jim Lahey ruined my life".
After hearing both Crown and defence witnesses, court was adjourned. Lahey will be back in court January 4th, to be sentenced. Sources close to the judge indicated that Lahey will likely get the maximum sentence.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Postmedia News "Lahey not a pedophile, doctor testifies" Cape Breton Post, December 20th, 2011