He was a celebrity pastor at one of Canada’s biggest megachurches. Inside the sexual abuse allegations that brought down Bruxy Cavey became a political issue that helped change the way abuse is dealt with in Canada, and have prompted some of the country’s biggest churches to change their behaviour.
Cavey was also a celebrity lawyer who tried to help men accused of sexual impropriety. His client list included men accused of rape dating to the 1960s, and one who claimed to be the youngest person ever charged with sexual assault in Canada.
In interviews with The Canadian Press his defence of Mr. Lamer and the “pile of rubbish” charge he was facing, Cavey spoke of the alleged abuse he faced as a pastor while serving on the church staff of the Toronto-based Christian Community Church.
The allegations against him surfaced last spring, and in February, the Crown attorney’s office laid charges against him. Mr. Lamer, who was charged with three counts of sexual assault, was released on a $5,000 bail and is expected to appear at the Old City Hall courtroom on March 4.
With his long red beard and booming voice, Cavey appeared at the Toronto news conference to defend himself, but his emotional plea to have his name cleared only served to make things worse.
“As a man who is accused, I want you to know all those things that you’re accused of and I say to you, ‘If you find the truth in your heart you will not fall into the pit that I fell into in February,’” Cavey said.
During a church service in 2015, a youth group was allegedly led by Lamer for about an hour. It came on the heels of a series of allegations made by a woman who said Lamer sexually abused her when she was a teenager.
Court documents showed the alleged victim was a member of the youth group, which was led by Lamer, from September 2015 to March 2016. The allegations came to light when the woman made a police report to the Hamilton police in March 2017.
Cavey said he was never notified of any complaint.
In an interview with