Prayer Palace pastor kissed and groped young woman, trial told
Pastor Paul Melnichuk, 83, accused of sexually assaulting both woman and her mother
In a courtroom overlooking the scene of the alleged crime — a massive spaceshipshaped evangelical church known as the Prayer Palace — a 20-year-old woman described being inappropriately groped and kissed by the pastor she saw as a grandfather.
Paul Melnichuk, 83, is accused of sexu- ally assaulting both the woman and her mother on separate occasions in 2014.
In a quavering voice far removed from that of the flamboyant, controversial “Pastor Paul” who founded the Prayer Palace more than 30 years ago, Melnichuk pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual assault at the start of his trial at the Etobicoke courthouse Thursday.
“It’s a church, a family church, a multicultural congregation of thousands,” said the young woman, whose name is protected by a publication ban, when asked to describe the Prayer Palace.
Her family joined the church after mov- ing to Toronto in 2005. When she was around 15 or 16, Melnichuk and his wife Kathleen encouraged her to join the choir and sing on stage during the church services on Sunday.
“I always looked up to Mr. Melnichuk,” she said. “I respected him very much . . . everything that he said for me to do, I would do out of respect and love, thinking that was what was best for me.”
After she went to college for a year and returned for the summer in 2014, his behaviour towards her changed, she said. His hugs “became longer, they became tighter, his hands more wandering,” she said, wiping away tears.
Melnichuk would sometimes give her and others money in what she called a “Pentecostal handshake” — usually while she was on stage.
About a month after she got back to Toronto, she says someone told her Melnichuk wanted to speak to her in his office. Melnichuk told her he wanted to “bless her” and gave her $100. Then he kissed her on the mouth, she said.
She froze, she said, then left, trying to rationalize what happened.
“I always looked up to Mr. Melnichuk. I respected him very much.” COMPLAINANT AT SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIAL
“Maybe you are the one taking it the wrong way,” she said she thought. “He is a man of God, he would never do this.”
But, she testified, it happened twice more. In June, Melnichuk gave her $1,000 to pay for driving lessons and told her not to tell anyone, she said.
After he gave her the money, she said, he kissed her and ran his hands over her body, touching her buttocks and between her legs.
It took less than 10 seconds, she said. After that, she stopped going to church as often and told her mother she didn’t want to sing on stage.
In July 2014, when she brought her brother to church very early in the morning, she said she encountered Melnichuk in a hallway.
He hugged her again, this time grabbing her neck and kissing her, she said, adding she could feel his tongue in her mouth. She could not recall where exactly he touched her.
She told her brother what had happened, but swore him to secrecy. Melnichuk’s behaviour had left her feeling hurt and betrayed after knowing him half her life, she said.
“I couldn’t even think of how it would hurt other people,” she said of why she didn’t tell her parents.
Shortly after she started college in the fall of 2014, her brother insisted she tell her parents what happened and she said he could tell them.
Her parents asked her to fly back to Toronto for the weekend and, in a family meeting, told her that something similar had also happened to her mother. They left the church at that time, she said.
They reported the incidents to the police in January 2015, after much discussion, she said.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Nathan Gorham suggested the woman’s family was in conflict with Melnichuk in September 2014 and made up the sexual assault allegations to discredit him.
In a directors meeting, Melnichuk said the woman’s mother was “being rebellious and trying to take over the church,” Gorham said. Her mother was then told she was not going to be part of a lucrative church scheme.
Gorham suggested her family left the church because they were angry over that, not because of inappropriate touching. The woman replied she was mad about the comments but her family left the church because of Melnichuk’s actions.
“If nothing had happened to my mom, if nothing had happened to me, we wouldn’t have left. We’d been there for eight years,” she testified, adding that she still respects many of the other people involved in the church.
“(Melnichuk) did hug you many times, but he never touched your bum, grabbed your crotch or put his tongue down your throat,” Gorham said. “You and your brother and your mother have exaggerated the hugs.”
The woman maintained the sexual assaults happened.
The trial continues.