Pastor Bruxy Cavey, former leader of the The Meeting House
Charged with the sexual assault of an adult woman
Charged with the sexual assault of an adult woman
Religions provide excuses for people who need excuses. This holds true across all denominations and all flavours of Christianity
Only days after we had news that the leader and founder of the Mexican-based La Luz del Mundo cult had been sentenced to almost 17 years in jail by a Californian court, for the rape and sexual abuse of minors, we have news that the former leader of the Canadian Anabaptist megachurch, The Meeting House, has been charged with sexual assault against an adult woman and an inappropriate sexual relationship with a woman who had gone to him for counselling.
And the church's leadership have now revealed that investigations have found credible evidence of the sexual misconduct of three more pastors, two of whom have been convicted, giving a total of 38 instances of sexual misconduct.
The former leader, of the cult, Bruxy Cavey, was suspended last March when an independent investigation found that he had a year-long sexual relationship with a woman who had sought counselling. It is not clear whether the woman is the complainant in the assault charge.
According to this report in Religion News Service, Jennifer Hryniw, a member of the Board of Overseers, told a meeting on 7 June, in Oakville, Ontario, Canada:
In addition to Cavey, who will appear before a judge in the city of Hamilton on June 27, the church identified three other former pastors charged with sexual misconduct:The church has formed various subcommittees to respond to each report of misconduct and to update church policies to ensure clear guidelines for accountability, supervision and best practices around sexual abuse. What a pity they didn't think of that before!
- In 2012, a former youth pastor at the church, Kieran Naidoo, was arrested and charged as part of a large-scale child pornography investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police. Last year, he was again arrested and charged with sexual exploitation.
- In 2014, former youth pastor David Churchill was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
- Tim Day, who served as senior pastor at The Meeting House for 14 years, has also been accused of sexual misconduct, Hryniw said.
Once again, we see religion being used as a cover for sexual predators with little or no attempt to screen potential pastors before giving them trusted access to children and vulnerable adults, and the naked hypocrisy of charismatic preachers who obviously don't believe they are being watched over by a deity who will call them to account for their conduct later. Either that, or they believe saying the right magic spells later will absolve them of any responsibility for their crimes.
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