Toronto police say they’ve arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly sexually assaulting three children at two churches.
Det. Const. Don Bai says William (Wil) Christopher Claveria faces 22 charges and police believe there may be more alleged victims.
Bai alleges Claveria preyed on young children at two Filipino churches in the city’s north end.
Bai said that Claveria did not work or volunteer at the churches and only attended them.
He is asking members of the Jesus Reigns Forever International Ministry and the Word And Life Christian Assembly to contact police if their children had interactions with Claveria.
Bai says Facebook contacted U.S. authorities about allegations a man was trading child pornography images and videos and the case eventually landed on his desk.
WATCH: Toronto Police investigation leads to arrest of man allegedly involved in child sex abuse, distribution
Ludivina Tiongco, a pastor at Word and Life Christian Assembly — one of the churches that Claveria attended — told Global News she was absolutely shocked to learn about the charges.
“We are very accepting,” Tiongco said. “The doors of the church is open for everybody…The kids were trusting Will. They called him Kuya – it means brother, older brother.”
She said that when police initially called, she thought it was a cultural misunderstanding since it’s natural for Filipinos to be embracing, carrying or sitting children on their lap.
Tiongco also said that they would often take pictures with the children, which didn’t appear suspicious until police told her there was more than just photographs.
“We were all shocked – because for us, we love picture taking and putting it on Instagram or Facebook, so when the police officers told us about that, we were devastated.”
Claveria is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
– With files from Global News