Ontario Community Newspapers

Oakville Beaver, 25 Aug 2022, p. 5

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5 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,A ugust 25,2022 insidehalton.com CHARTWELL OAKVILLE 180 Oak Park Boulevard CHARTWELL WATERFORD 2160 Baronwood Drive Book your personalized tour! 1-844-727-8679 | Chartwell.com Experience the difference Chartwell provides - where social connections, exceptional services and dedicated staff can make your life better. MOVE-IN OFFER AVAILABLE* The Oakville mega- church embroiled in a months-long sexual abuse scandal said it has "sub- stantiated" additional alle- gations against former pas- tor Bruxy Cavey, including one case involving a minor. The latest revelations were made in a statement and video released by the Meeting House, one of Can- ada's largest evangelical churches, where Cavey had been an unconventional and popular pastor for 25 years until allegations of sexual misconduct were brought to the church's at- tention in December. Cavey, 57, was charged in June by Hamilton police with sexual assault for his alleged abuse of one con- gregant, who told the Star that Cavey pressured her to keep their relationship secret. A church investigation into those allegations, which concluded in March, found that Cavey abused his power and authority as a member of the clergy and that his actions amounted to sexual harassment. Cavey resigned from the church then, describing the allegations in a blog post as "an extramarital af- fair." On August 13, the church said it had substan- tiated two additional alle- gations of sexual abuse against Cavey, and a third allegation was substantiat- ed as sexual misconduct. The church did not provide any details about the alle- gations, except that in one case "the victim was under- aged when the abuse took place." Cavey's lawyer, Bren- dan Neil, wrote in an email that he had not seen the al- legations so "at this time it would be inappropriate to provide any comment." The church said it had also substantiated an alle- gation of sexual abuse against former senior pas- tor Tim Day. The church similarly did not provide any details about the allegations against Day, who "chose not to participate in the in- vestigation," the church said. Day, who could not be reached for comment, has not been criminally charged. "In all cases the victims have suffered great harm, including psychologically, emotionally and spiritual- ly," reads the church's statement, which is attri- buted to its "Board of Over- seers." The statement also ac- knowledges the "courage" and "bravery" of the al- leged victims who came forward. "As a church leadership we humbly and profoundly apologize to them for the pain they have experienced at the hands of the Meeting House pastors whom they -- and we -- trusted." Since Cavey's resigna- tion, the church said its vic- tim advocate has received more than three dozen "al- legations, disclosures and concerns" relating to cler- gy sexual misconduct, abuse and harassment. They hired a third-party investigator, Natasha Per- saud, to investigate the al- legations. The disclosures includ- ed allegations against Ca- vey and Day, as well as for- mer pastors, Kie Naidoo and Dave Churchill. The church said they were al- ready aware of some of the historic allegations against Naidoo and Chur- chill, who both faced previ- ous criminal charges and have not worked for the church for "a number of years." FORMER PASTOR FACING NEW SEXUAL ABUSE ALLEGATIONS BRENDAN KENNEDY, TORONTO STAR bkennedy@thestar.ca See CHURCH, page 7 NEWS The Meeting House says they have "substantiated" additional allegations against popular former pastor Bruxy Cavey. University of Waterloo photo

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