Jury dismissed in sexual abuse, assault trial of former 2×2 church minister
Published By admin
The sexual abuse trial of a former 2×2 Christian sect minister has been switched from a judge and jury trial, to a trial by judge alone at the request of the defence.
Lee-Ann McChesney has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual abuse and one count of sexual exploitation. The charges relate to incidents in 1989 in or around the B.C. cities of Terrace, Delta and Surrey. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Twelve jurists started hearing the trial when it began on Sept. 8 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. However, the jury has now been dismissed after McChesney re-elected to have the case heard by a judge sitting alone, according to Damienne Darby with the British Columbia Prosecution Service.’
McChesney was arrested in January 2024 after complainant Lyndell Montgomery went to police 35 years after the alleged abuse took place. Montgomery turned 15 in the summer of 1989.
Montgomery requested her name not be put under a publication ban, as is common in cases involving the alleged sexual abuse of a child or youth.
Now 51 years old, Montgomery is among a number of former 2×2 members who have gone public with stories of historical childhood sexual abuse within the 2×2 community.
FBI Investigation
Last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating the 2×2 church in the United States, asking victims to come forward.
The FBI action came after the launch of a 2×2 victim hotline run by Advocates for the Truth, an organization of former church members and survivors who say for decades, church leaders have ignored child sexual abuse within their ranks, while protecting predators.
In its first year of operation, the hotline received more than 1,500 unconfirmed reports of historical child sexual abuse and other offences, related to more than 900 alleged perpetrators.
Content retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/2×2-church-minister-sexual-abuse-1.7626773.
