Former Oakville pastor Bruxy Cavey charged with sexual assault

A former pastor from a megachurch headquartered in Oakville has been charged with sexual assault in Hamilton.

Bruxy Cavey was charged by Hamilton police with a single count of sexual assault on May 31.

At the time of the alleged assault, Cavey was the primary teaching pastor at The Meeting House Church, where he worked from 1996 to 2021, police said.

The megachurch - believed to be the third largest church in Canada - has its headquarters in Oakville. However, it also has remote locations across the Greater Toronto Area, including several Hamilton-area locations.

Cavey announced his resignation from the church in March after an external investigation found he allegedly abused his power and sexually harassed a parishioner.

It is not clear whether the allegations in the church's external investigation are related to the criminal charge.

Hamilton police declined to release further information, including the timeline of the alleged assault and whether it's tied to his resignation.

We will not release this information in order to protect the identity of the victim," said Det. Sgt. Jennifer Currie. We can not comment on the reason why he resigned from the church."

The alleged sexual assault occurred in Hamilton.

Cavey confirmed his resignation in a blog post, where he described having an extramarital affair" that was his greatest failure." He said he confessed" when first confronted by church leadership, but couldn't speak about the allegations until the board shared its findings.

The church first placed Cavey on leave at the end of 2021 amid the investigation into his behaviour, before requesting his resignation.

A third-party investigator was brought in and found 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 and amounted to sexual harassment," Maggie John, the executive chair of the church's board, said in a virtual town hall in March, according to The Toronto Star.

Following Cavey's resignation, at the board's request, his credentials with the Be In Christ Church of Canada were also removed.

Another teaching pastor at the church, Danielle Strickland, also resigned in March in solidarity with the victim, who she said was silenced throughout the church investigation process. The Star reported that Strickland read a statement on Instagram Live, on behalf of the victim, who was young and in crisis."

It was a devastating twisting of pastoral care into sexual abuse," Strickland said in the statement on behalf of the victim and reported by The Star.

It is unclear if this victim is the alleged sex assault victim in the criminal investigation.

Police said they believe there may be more victims.

Cavey is next scheduled to appear in court June 27.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Const. Jeremy Miller at 905-540-5050 or Currie at 905-546-4962.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can report the incident to the Hamilton police sexual assault unit's non-emergency line at 905-540-5553 or hamiltonpolice.on.ca.

Someone not ready to report, but needing support can contact Hamilton police victim services at 905-546-4904.

For confidential support, contact Hamilton's sexual assault centre's 24-hour support line at 905-525-4162; or connect at sacha.ca.

- With files from the Toronto StarNicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com