MONTREAL — A prominent West Island deacon — who used to comment on church sexual abuse scandals — is expected to appear in court on Monday after being charged on the weekend with the production and distribution of child pornography.

William Kokesch, a 65-year-old deacon of St. Edmund of Canterbury Parish in Beaconsfield, was arrested Friday after police carried out two search warrants — one at his home in Pointe Claire and the other at the church.

The Archdiocese of Montreal responded swiftly after Kokesch’s arraignment on Saturday, immediately removing him from all ministry and pastoral activity.

“Having just learned of the charges against Mr. Kokesch, the diocese is profoundly upset,” it said in a statement. “Child pornography is an affront to human dignity, and our first concern rests with those who are its victims.”

Police seized more than 2,000 computer files as well as messages left on chat-room sites on the Internet.

“Police conducted the searches after receiving a complaint from a citizen,” said Constable Danny Richer.

Kokesch, a Vancouver native who is married and the father of five adult children, was formally charged via a video conference on Saturday. He did not enter a plea at his arraignment, and he is to appear in court again on Monday morning.

Congregants of the close-knit St. Edmund of Canterbury Parish were shaken by the news.

“My dad and I are shocked,” said Frank Dunn, the son of 89-year-old deacon Phil Dunn.

“We all thought he was a nice guy. He was fairly active as a deacon until a few months ago when his legs started bothering him.”

Kokesch, who also worked at The Gazette as a reporter between 1973 and 1978, was remembered by former Gazette police reporter Eddie Collister as a nice and well-liked guy.

“I would never have dreamt that about him,” he said on Sunday. “No one knows what goes on behind closed doors, but I was very surprised and saddened to hear he was arrested.”

Kokesch, who was ordained as a “permanent deacon” in the diocese of Montreal in 1981, then served as the communications director for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in Ottawa. In 2005, he was entrusted by the conference to coordinate the Canadian delegation to World Youth Day Catholic celebrations in Cologne, Germany.

Kokesch had also worked as a radio reporter in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was later sought after by the news media for his insights into the scandals engulfing the Catholic Church.

“Reconciliation doesn’t happen overnight,” Kokesch told CTV in a 2006 interview. “Healing takes time.”

Kokesch’s Facebook page states that he was among the 1975 graduating class at Concordia University with a degree in communications and political science.

His last post on it seems to have been on Dec. 15, when he spoke of the agony of “preaching this weekend” in the “midst of unspeakable tragedy” after the shootings in Newtown, Conn.

Although his Facebook page also states that he works for the Canadian Religious Conference in Montreal, The Gazette could find no mention of Kokesch on the organization’s website.

Police are urging anyone with more information to contact investigators at Info-Crime at 514-393-1133.

Karen Seidman of The Gazette contributed to this report

aderfel@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @Aaron_Derfel