CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press
By: Mike McIntyre
A rural Manitoba church has been hit with allegations of sexual abuse and negligence in a pair of separate court filings.
Documents obtained by the Free Press on Monday confirm a member of the congregation was recently arrested following a lengthy RCMP investigation. The man has been charged with sexual assault against a young woman who also attended the church, although the incidents allegedly occurred outside of the church in a work environment. He is also facing the rare Criminal Code offence of “surreptitiously observing by mechanical device.”
None of the offences has been proven and the accused remains before the courts. The Free Press is not naming the church or the accused to avoid identifying the alleged victim.
The young woman has also taken civil action, filing a statement of claim on Monday against the church and her pastor. She is seeking unspecified financial damages. In her lawsuit, the woman claims the pastor was aware another member of his congregation was abusing her but took no action to stop it. She claims he turned a blind eye at a time she went to him seeking “spiritual guidance and emotional care.”
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