Senior Pastor's Son & Wife Charged with Child Sex Abuse

Surrey pastor and wife charged with

series of sex assaults

Investigators say there could be more victims and are

asking them to come forward

By Bethany Lindsay, CBC News 

A Christian pastor in Surrey, British Columbia and his wife are facing numerous charges related to a long series of sexual assaults, and police are asking other alleged victims to come forward.

Before arrest

Thirty-four-year-old Samuel Emerson of the Cloverdale Christian Fellowship Church has been charged with 13 counts of sexual assault, 11 counts of being in a position of authority and touching a person for a sexual purpose and one count of sexual touching of a person younger than 16, according to an RCMP news release.

His wife, 37-year-old Madelaine Emerson, faces one charge each of sexual assault, being in a position of authority and touching a person for a sexual purpose and threats to cause death or bodily harm.

Samuel is the son of the senior pastor of the church.

The accusations against the couple stretch back as far as 2015 and were first reported in May of this year, according to police. Both Emersons were arrested May 18 and released on strict conditions.

After arrest

RCMP Cpl. Scotty Schumann described the charges as disturbing and said they relate to alleged offences against one person under the age of 16 and "several other young adults."

"A lot of us, especially parents for example, entrust that these people are going to have the best interests of our children at heart and when that trust is broken, you certainly feel terrible as a community but terrible as a parent for not being able to protect your children," he told CBC News.

Investigators believe there may be other alleged victims who have not come forward, and they're asking those people to trust the Surrey RCMP with their stories.

"We don't actually know there are other victims, but a lot of times with offences involving sexual assaults, victims don't want to come forward for a variety of reasons," Schumann said.

"If they know that other people are coming forward, they may find some strength in that and call the police."

Neither Emerson was previously known to police, RCMP say. No one was answering the phone at the Cloverdale church on Tuesday afternoon.

Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502. Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or www.solvecrime.ca.

This must be a very traumatic time for this church. Samuel and Madelaine's names do not appear on their web site, but the senior Pastor and his wife are Randy & Christine Emerson. According to the Vancouver Sun, they are the parents of Samuel.

Cloverdale Church appears to have a Pentecostal bent to it although there are no obvious ties to any denomination on its website.