The former stepdaughter of the Toronto man who is charged with bigamy says it's "extremely important" for women who may have had relationships with the senior to come forward.

Oliver Killeen was arrested in Toronto last Thursday and charged with bigamy. Police allege that the 71-year-old is married to "numerous" women, who are scattered throughout Ontario, England and Ireland.

Toronto police declined to give an exact number of wives. However, they do allege that the marriages began in the 1970s, and that Killeen has not obtained a legal divorce for any of them.

Julia Lafleur, whose mother Barbara was married to Killeen from 1978 to 1985, says women who have been duped by Killeen may feel embarrassed, but their assistance will help the case.

"It's extremely important that they do (come forward)," Lafleur said Monday on CTV's Canada AM. "Because they can feel ashamed, they can feel very, very embarrassed, but you can pull your life back together."

According to Lafleur, police had told her that they would likely have enough evidence to eventually arrest Killeen.

However, she said she had given up hope because that conversation took place a year ago and there was still no word of an arrest.

"I really couldn't believe it had finally, actually happened," Lafleur said. "I thought that they had pretty much given up, simply because of his age."

Lafleur said she called her mother, who "couldn't believe it, she let out quite a screech."

Killeen, the subject of a British documentary entitled "The Conman with 14 Wives," was sentenced to three years in a British jail in 2004 on bigamy charges. He was subsequently deported to Canada.

In a 2006 interview with the Daily Mail newspaper, Killeen blamed the women for falling for his "suave" act.

"I gave women what they wanted," he was quoted as saying. "If they were foolish enough to marry me within a few weeks of meeting me, that was up to them. They should have asked more questions."

Neither Lafleur nor her mother have had contact with any of Killeen's children. However, the women have spoken to one of his more recent wives, a woman named Gina, who Lafleur said Killeen married in Niagara Falls.

Lafleur said her mother told Gina that she was just one in a long line of women that he had deceived.

After her relationship with Killeen ended, Lafleur's mother obtained two college degrees and is doing well, Lafleur said.

Killeen is scheduled to appear in court on March 24.