Toronto Police Lay Seven More Sex Assault Charges Against Romanian Orthodox Priest

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Toronto police said that a Romanian Orthodox priest faces seven more sexual assault charges in addition to one laid earlier this month. Police arrested Ioan Pop, 54, of Toronto in early September and charged him with one count of sexual assault after a woman was allegedly assaulted at All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church in the city’s east end. At the time, police released a photograph and said that they believed there might be more victims. Detective Teresa Curtis of the sex crimes unit said that several more women came forward with allegations against Pop, who’s now charged with eight counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. She said that the new charges relate to alleged incidents that happened between 2005 and 2011, and that the additional seven complainants were between 24 and 43-years-old at the time of the alleged offences. Curtis said that Pop is in custody. Police still believe that there may be more complainants and are asking anyone with any further information to come forward.

30 September 2013

CTV News

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-police-lay-7-more-sex-assault-charges-against-orthodox-priest-1.1476948

 

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Romanian Orthodox Priest Arrested in Alleged Sexual Assault of Parishioner in Metro Toronto Church

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On Wednesday, cops arrested a Toronto priest for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in his Scarborough ON (part of the Greater Toronto Area) parish. Ioan Pop, the 54-year-old parish priest at All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church, faces charges of one count of sexual assault. According to the Toronto Police Service, on Tuesday 3 September, reports say that Rev Pop allegedly sexually assaulted a woman who entered the church, only to be surprised by a couple who “interrupted the assault”. The statement added, “Police believe that there may be more victims”. All Saints, located near Birchmount and Danforth, was consecrated in 2008. A 2008 write-up on the website of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas said that the parish itself came about “because of the desire of the Romanian faithful and the efforts of Fr Ioan Pop to create a solid Romanian and Orthodox community on Canadian soil”. Rev Pop has a 15 October hearing at the Eglinton Avenue East courthouse.

13 September 2013

Tristin Hopper

National Post

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/13/orthodox-priest-arrested-in-alleged-sexual-assault-of-scarborough-parishioner/