A 56-year-old Welland man is facing numerous charges after three children under the age of 10 were allegedly sexually assaulted. In a news release, Niagara police say officers were initially called to a Welland address on Aug. 21 for a reported sexual assault. Officials did not specify the area of the address but say the accused was known to the family. As a result, the investigation was taken over by Niagara’s Child Abuse Unit, where on Wednesday, police arrested a man they identified as 56-year-old Anthony Stephen Michael from Welland, Ont. Michael is facing multiple charges, including three counts of making child sexual abuse exploitation material, two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference with a person under 16. He is also charged with making sexually explicit material available to a person, voyeurism, bestiality in the presence of a person, exposing his genitals to a person under 16, assault with a weapon and failing to comply with a probation order. None of the charges have been tested in court but police say Michael remains in custody and is scheduled to appear for a bail hearing on Aug. 27 in St. Catharines. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Niagara regional police at 905-688-4111, option 3, extension 1009898.
