Kelowna pastor facing sex charges will stand trial next March

Photo: Contributed

Mitchell Petillion

Trial dates have been set next year for a former Kelowna youth pastor and high school basketball coach accused of sex crimes against multiple children.

Last November, 31-year-old Mitchell Petillion was charged with seven counts of sexual assault dating back to 2009, along with charges of sexual interference of a person under 16, sexual exploitation, invitation to sexual touching of a person under 16, and communicating via computer and phone to lure a person under the age of 16 and 18.

Court documents show the charges relate to four separate victims.

On Monday, a 12-day trial was set for Petillion beginning March 27, 2023 in Kelowna court. A pre-trial conference has also been scheduled for Jan. 13.

He has remained out of custody since he was first granted bail on Nov. 5.

A person who attends Willow Park Church told Castanet last year that Petillion had worked as a pastor at the church until mid-2020, when allegations against him began circulating in the church community. He had worked there since at least 2010.

Petillion also coached basketball at Kelowna Christian School, last coaching the Grade 9 boys team during their 2019 provincial championship. Last November, Head of School Mike Campbell told Castanet the school first became aware of the allegations in January 2020.

"During our connection with the RCMP, we learned that none of the allegations that came out in 2020 stemmed from any school activities or extensions of school activities at Kelowna Christian School,” Campbell said.

“Student safety and wellbeing are paramount to us, and while we don’t know any details of the allegations and we don’t know the names of those involved, we are prayerful for a restorative and reparative process."

*Details have been removed from this story to comply with a court publication ban