Ontario Provincial Police have laid charges against two people after officers were called to investigate large gatherings at a pair of Windsor-Essex places of worship over the weekend.
Officers from the Leamington detachment were first called to a location on Mersea Road 8 near Mersea Road 12, after receiving a complaint about a church service in progress during which more than ten people were present. Under the current provincial lockdown guidelines, only ten people are permitted at a house of worship at any time.
Police arrived and found people inside the church, numbering above the ten-person limit. The officers asked for the service to be stopped.
A 29-year-old Leamington resident accepted responsibility for the service, according to OPP Constable Amanda Allen, and was charged with failure to comply with the Reopening Ontario Act of 2020.
The OPP did not identify the church, but a check of the address by Blackburn News showed that the church in question was the Church of God in Leamington.
A short time later, the OPP received another complaint about a large gathering at a separate location on Mersea Road 8, and again, police went to the site and asked for it to be stopped.
A 46-year-old Chatham-Kent resident is facing a similar charge.
Both of the accused will have a chance to respond to the charges in a Leamington court on February 4, 2021.
