OAKVILLE (CANADA)
In the Hammer [Hamilton, Ontario, CA]
December 29, 2023
By Liam McConnell
A former pastor of an Oakville megachurch has been charged with two new counts of sexual assault, according to Hamilton Police.
Timothy Bruce “Bruxey” Cavey, 58, was the lead pastor at The Meeting House, an Anabaptist church in Oakville. The Meeting House flock is among Canada’s largest, with more than 5,000 people attending weekly Sunday mass. It’s based in Oakville but has 22 satellite locations through out the GTA.
Cavey joined the church as a teaching pastor in 1996. However, he resigned from the church in 2022 after a third party investigation concluded, “what became a sexual relationship between Bruxy and the Victim, which lasted over an extended period of time, constituted an abuse of Bruxy’s power and authority as a member of the clergy,” per Meeting House board chair, Maggie Johns.
Police formally charged Cavery with sexual assault on May 31, 2022. Following the charges more allegations of sexual impropriety came to light. According to Johns, two more women came forward with allegations of their own after the first woman, according to Religion News.
Cavey called the first woman’s allegations “an extramarital affair” in a blog post titled “My Confession” in March last year. He called his actions “my greatest failure, my darkest sin” and commended the “bravery” of the woman who came forward.
He later hired lawyer Megan Sevard, the defence attorney who represented former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard in his own sexual assault trial. Hoggard was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
Following Cavey’s charges, allegations against another Meeting House pastor Tim Day emerged. The church hired a victim’s advocate to investigate the claims. She soon received 38 requests for inquiries. “She’s documenting each story and is committed to advocating on their behalf. The inquiries are not all unique or separate, but they do represent allegations, disclosures and concerns relating primarily to clergy sexual misconduct,” the church said.
Two other pastors linked to the church had previously been convicted of sex crimes; youth pastors Kieran Naidoo and Dave Churchill.
According to Toronto Police, Naidoo, then 42, and a teen girl “engaged in online conversations where the man made inappropriate sexual comments,” and sent “explicit videos and invited her to engage in sexual activity with him.” Churchill, then 28, was accused of the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl.
On Dec 29, Hamilton Police confirmed to Inthehammer, that Cavey had been charged with to new sexual assault offences. However, media officer Cst. Krista-Lee Ernst did not provide any detail about the alleged crimes. She did confirm Cavey had been charged on Dec. 22 and will face those charges in court in January.
Cavey has since started an online ministry and has requested donations from parishioners.