A sexual assault charge against a former Elora Road Christian Fellowship and School pastor has been stayed.
At a preliminary hearing on Oct. 26 the defence and Crown agreed to stay a charge of sexual assault on a child under 16 against Henry (Henk) Katerberg of Guelph-Eramosa Township.
That means the Crown has discontinued prosecution, but in rare circumstances the charge could be brought back to court.
“My case is finished,” Katerberg said in an interview with the Advertiser on Oct. 30. “I’m innocent and even though it wasn’t expressed so much in that terminology … that’s the way it is.”
In January, Katerberg and former principal Arend (John) Dekorte were charged in connection with alleged sexual assaults between 1981 and 1986 at the church and school, which are located on the same property on Wellington Road 7 north of Guelph.
Katerberg, 80, the founder of the church, was pastor at the time of the alleged offences.
Dekorte, a teacher at the time the alleged assaults took place, was charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child under the age of 16.
Katerberg said his family was with him at the Ontario Court of Justice in Guelph on Oct. 26.
“We all were very happy that it was all over,” he said.
Dekorte is set to appear in his first preliminary hearing on Nov. 15.
