A former pastor and hockey coach in the Markham area is facing multiple charges in connection with a historical sexual assault investigation.
The 59-year-old man, who lived in Markham between 1991 and 2015, has been charged with four counts of sexual assault and four counts of sexual interference in connection with alleged incidents involving two children.
“This individual had resided in Markham for a lengthy period of time so the historical incident that the victim came forward to us about occurred in the Markham area between that time frame he resided there,” Const. Laura Nicolle told CP24 on Thursday. “From there he moved to the Port Colborne area and 2017 is when the other incident occurred out in that area.”
An investigation into the alleged incidents began on Dec. 14 after an adult male came forward to police. The victim told officers he was sexually assaulted as a young child. York police said this information led investigators to additional incidents in the Port Colborne area in 2017 that had been reported to the Niagara Regional Police Service.
During the years the accused lived in Markham, he worked as a pastor at Northview Community Church in North York and managed the Markham Islanders hockey team.
Investigators also said there was a home daycare operating out of the man’s family home in Markham at the time. He also previously worked as a pastor in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Montreal.
Nicolle said the accused’s access to children in his past is “certainly a concern.”
An image of the accused – identified as Richard Rose – has been released as officers believe there may be other victims.
“We certainly want to make sure that we don’t miss anything,” Nicolle said. “If anyone has gone through anything or if anyone has information that can help us work through this investigation we appreciate that information."
Anyone with further information is asked to contact investigators at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7071 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (3477).
Rose is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 18.
