Quebec pastor and wife charged with decades of abuse

Q.C. pastor and wife arrested for alleged abuse A Quebec pastor and his wife have been arrested and charged on allegations they physically abused kids for more than 40 years.

After a year-long investigation, a Quebec pastor and his wife have been arrested on charges of alleged abuse involving minors that go back decades.

Mario Monette, a longtime pastor at the South Metropolitan Bible Baptist Church in Longueuil near Montreal, and wife Carol Van Houtte were arrested Thursday by police and face 32 charges, including armed assault, battery, uttering threats, confinement and inciting others to commit a crime. The couple is also accused of physically abusing children.

Their alleged crimes date back as far as 1974 to just this year.

The pastor and his wife have been under scrutiny before, most notably when their own son Paul-Emile Monette accused them of running a cult during a radio interview last year. He alleged that his parents regularly beat him and his siblings and suggested church members do the same to their children. He also claimed the couple encouraged members of the congregation to sever ties with relatives who weren’t in the church.

Longueuil Police are asking for anyone with more information about Monette and Van Houtte’s past to come forward. Anonymous tips can be made by phone to 450-463-7211.

The couple’s arraignment is expected Friday in a Longueuil courtroom. The allegations have not been tested in a court of law.