One of the largest megachurches in Canada, The Meeting House, has revealed it has received 38 reports of sexual assault involving three other pastors besides the church's former leader Bruxy Cavey.
It’s the result of an investigation by a third-party victims’ advocate hired by the church.
During a meeting last week, The Meeting House’s elders told the congregation that youth pastors Kieran Naidoo and David Churchill and Tim Day, who served as senior pastor at The Meeting House for 14 years, have been accused of sexual misconduct.
Naidoo was arrested and charged as part of a child pornography investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police in 2012, and last year he was arrested again and charged with sexual exploitation.
Churchill was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation in 2014.
Cavey was arrested and charged with sexual assault last week following a six-month investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him by a former member of staff.
"The cases of Kieran Naidoo and Dave Churchill have gone to court, and convictions were laid. And as you are aware, we are currently underway with two investigations where Bruxy Cavey and Tim Day have been named,” Jennifer Hryniw, a member of the Board of Overseers (elders) said during the meeting.
She continued: “We are deeply sorry for how many of these stories have been handled in the past. We continue to be humbled to now be the stewards of those stories.”
"Each story we've read causes us deep grief. But we know it's only a fraction of the pain that the victims, both men and women, have experienced.”
She also said other accounts of previous leaders and staff at the church engaging in "sexual misconduct, adultery and troubling emotional abuse" were also reported.
"These aren't new or recent incidences of harm and they do come as a surprise to the overseers and to many in this church family. We're thankful that for many of us, this hasn't been our experience of the church. But that doesn't mean that any of us can afford to ignore them."
The Meeting House Church has encouraged victims to contact the third-party victims’ advocate.
Cavey will appear in court on Monday 27th June.