He was a celebrity pastor at one of Canada’s biggest megachurches. Inside the sexual abuse allegations that brought down Bruxy Cavey’s church and led to his trial and convictions, he faced up to life in prison.
Now, some 14 years after he served a two-year sentence for his crimes, he is back into the spotlight, this time in the form of a CBC documentary that examines how he used his power and influence to groom, abuse and victimize at least seven girls, five of them underage.
In the years since he was convicted, Cavey has publicly denied the allegations and has gone on to become an influential social commentator and television personality.
But with the help of his church, he is hoping to make a comeback in the community.
And the church has taken him under its wing.
“The church does whatever they need to for the pastor, within reason and as well as outside the boundaries of the law,” said David Boddie, the executive director of the Assembly of God Church in Burlington, Ont.
“They have their own resources and tools. They have a support group called the Pastors and Leaders of Today — which I myself have attended and I can tell you the power that that group has in the lives of pastors, pastors’ wives, pastors’ families and those that pastor, pastorally.”
The Assembly of God, a Christian church that was founded in the 1920s in Burlington, Ont., is one of the largest and most influential of Ontario’s 10,000 churches. (CBC)
The church has been one of the most visible faces in the #MeToo movement in Canada — and last week it was at the centre of a #MeToo case that saw a veteran minister and sexual abuse survivor receive a $100,000 settlement from his church, saying it had failed in its duty of care.
In his final years with the church, Cavey became famous for his preaching style, which he described as “a combination of an evangelist and the preacher.”
Now, he is the focus of CBC’s documentary, “Pillars of Grace: The Bruxy Cavey Story” (airing at 6 p.m. on CBC Television).
The allegations against him have been reported in media and on social media and the church