A pastor and his wife have been charged with a total of 28 counts of sexual offense cases, covering incidents that date as far back as 2015.

Samuel Emerson and his wife, Madelaine, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, both face several accusations made against them involving sexual assault and molestation, among others, as reported by The Vancouver Sun.

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While they were arrested on May 18, the charges have just been recently filed. They were also released temporarily, but under strict conditions.

Samuel, 34, served as pastor for Cloverdale Church, alongside his parents. The church’s website has removed him in their serving pastors list after the allegations.

Aside from pastoral services, he and his wife worked for the Church’s youth ministry, the report said.

In a press release by the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), it was stated that other victims may have yet to come forward.

“Calling the police to report a sexual assault is a very difficult thing to do especially when the suspect is someone you knew and trusted, and can leave lifelong emotional scars,” Cpl. Scotty Schulmann of the RCMP said in the statement, as per report.

A church, a family torn apart

Meanwhile, Samuel’s father, Randy, who is a senior pastor at the church, has spoken with The Vancouver Sun about the fallout that has happened to their church community after the charges filed against his son and daughter-in-law.

More than the church attendance which has plummeted, and his failure to convince the lost flock to go back, he appears hurt by the effect of the cases on his son’s children.

“You can’t be with mommy and daddy until the court thing is settled one way or another. And even then you may get to live with us,” he told his grandchildren, as quoted by the report. He also related how the family almost lost custody of the children as they were set to be sent to foster homes. Luckily, he and his wife were granted interim custody of their grandchildren.

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Randy said in the report that definitely, his son shall never preach again: “He’s lost all of that now. Guilty or innocent, he will never pastor. He will never be able to use his education. He’s lost his social standing.”

The pastor also clarified that he is not taking sides in the issue, regardless whether his son would be found innocent or not. He expressed desire to still reach out to congregants, who he believes were the source of the allegations. He stated, “I can’t take sides in this. I have to stay as neutral as I can in order to be available to anyone that wants to avail themselves of what I have to offer.” Katrina Hallare/JB

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