A former Roman Catholic bishop in Nova Scotia who was caught with hundreds of child pornography images and videos on his laptop, has pleaded guilty to importing child pornography.

Father Raymond Lahey, the 70-year-old former bishop of the Catholic diocese in Antigonish, N.S. offered the plea in a packed Ottawa courtroom Wednesday.

In return for the plea, Lahey will not have to face a charge of distribution.

The judge in the case will now view the images and videos in private before deciding on sentencing.

Lahey could be sentenced to as long as a decade in prison. The Vatican will also judge him, which could lead to him being kicked out of the Catholic Church.

Lahey was charged in September 2009 with possessing and importing child pornography, after being arrested by border agents who searched his laptop at the Ottawa airport after he stepped off a plane from Britain.

Police say they found hundreds of files, dozens of videos, many of them showing young males engaged in sex acts, and written stories containing explicit sexual images of boys.

This came as a shock, as just a month earlier, Lahey brokered a $15 million lawsuit for victims sexually abused by priests of the diocese of Antigonish.

Lahey stepped down as head of the Antigonish diocese shortly after he was charged.

"He did the act. He's got to take the punishment. Priest or no priest," said one Antigonish resident.

"They are innocent children and he has taken away their innocence. I think he deserves what he gets," said another.

He has been staying with other priests in Ottawa since he was granted bail last October. He had planned to await trial in New Brunswick, but requested the change after residents in that province complained about his presence.

With a report by CTV's Todd Battis in Halifax