A pastor facing charges for alleged sexual offences against children in New Westminster is set to appear in court in March.
Edwin Enrique Alvarez is scheduled to appear in court in New Westminster March 1 on six charges: three counts of sexual assault and three counts of sexual interference with a person under the age of 16.
Four of the charges (two of sexual interference and two of sexual assault) relate to incidents that happened on July 1, 2017. The remaining two (one each of sexual interference and sexual assault) relate to an incident or incidents that took place on Nov. 11, 2021.
The charges were sworn on Dec. 22, 2022.
The New Westminster Police Department issued a press release about the case on Jan. 9, saying Alvarez had been arrested in Saanich on Jan. 4 after a months-long investigation by the NWPD.
The department began an investigation in the spring of 2022 after receiving “multiple reports” of sexual offences involving children, the release said. At the time, the NWPD said Alvarez was a pastor at a “small church in the Metro Vancouver area,” but it did not name the church.
B.C. Court Services information says the incidents that led to the charges took place in New Westminster.
Court information shows Alvarez as born in 1978, making him 44 or 45 years old. He is not in custody.
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