More charges have been laid against organizers of local church services.
Officers responded to reports of a service being held at the Old Colony Mennonite Church in Wheatley yesterday morning. Authorities found 128 vehicles parked in the lot, and say no one inside the church was wearing a mask.
A 51-year-old Merlin man claimed responsibility for the gathering, which goes against the province’s current COVID restrictions. He’s now been charged under the Reopening Ontario Act, and will be in court on June 23rd.
Meantime, officers also laid charges following a similar gathering at the Old Colony Mennonite Church in Charing Cross, where roughly 40 vehicles were found in the lot, and around 100 people were seen leaving the building without masks. In that case, a 37-year-old Merlin man was charged. He faces a court date on July 7th.
Even though the official stay at home order has ended, current COVID restrictions still limit the capacity of indoor and outdoor religious services to 10 people. The maximum fine for organizers of indoor church services is $10,000.