CANADA
The London Free Press

By JANE SIMS, The London Free Press

Last Updated: April 27, 2012

It was as if Royden Wood cast a “spell” on the congregation of the now-closed Ambassador Baptist Church.

That was how one of his sexual assault victims described the hold the pastor had on his flock during the years the controversial church at the corner of King and Adelaide streets was in its full flight until it closed in 2007.

The last criminal courtroom chapter of the Ambassador Church scandal ended Friday with a six-year prison sentence for Wood.

The 62-year-old former church leader came to court without his wife Linda in anticipation of being jailed for his crimes.

Superior Court Justice Dougald McDermid said in his decision that Wood “methodically isolated his complainants, manipulated them and brought them under his control.