Former Roman Catholic bishop Raymond Lahey betrayed little emotion Thursday as a court was told his laptop contained hundreds of pornographic images of young boys — including photos of torture.

Lahey was in an Ottawa courtroom for sentencing in a child-porn case that has rocked his former Nova Scotia diocese of Antigonish.

The 71-year-old cleric pleaded guilty in May to possessing child pornography for the purpose of importing it to Canada and voluntarily went to jail to begin serving time even before a formal sentencing.

Almost 600 photos, mostly of young teenaged boys, were found on Lahey's Toshiba laptop and a handheld device when he was stopped at the Ottawa International Airport in September 2009 by Canada Border Service Agency personnel.

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."

The sentencing hearing began Thursday, but a sentence likely won't be handed down before December.

Crown prosecutors also want to hear from a forensic psychiatrist, but that expert will not be available until December. The hearing will likely continue then.

Lahey faces a minimum of one year in jail.