Australian Archbishop Sentenced to Year's Detention for Not Reporting Sexual Abuse

The archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, is likely to serve his sentence under house arrest. A judge must confirm that arrangement next month.

ADELAIDE, Australia — The archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, was sentenced Tuesday to a 12-month sentence after being convicted in May of failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse disclosed to him in the 1970s.

The archbishop is likely to serve his sentence under house arrest and be fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet, according to media reports. A judge must confirm that arrangement at an Aug. 14 hearing before it can be finalized.

Archbishop Wilson, 67, has not resigned from his position as archbishop of Adelaide.

Pope Francis appointed June 3 Jesuit Bishop Greg O’Kelly, bishop of Australia’s Diocese of Port Pirie, to serve as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, entrusting him with day-to-day leadership responsibilities. Bishop O’Kelly, 76, is not expected to succeed Archbishop Wilson, especially since he has already surpassed the age at which bishops customarily submit a resignation letter to the pope.

At Archbishop Wilson’s sentencing hearing July 3, Magistrate Robert Stone said he had shown “no remorse or contrition” before imposing the sentence.

Archbishop Wilson was convicted of concealing child sexual abuse committed by a fellow parish priest in New South Wales in the 1970s. At the time, he had been ordained a priest for only one year.

The victims of the scandal, Peter Creigh and another altar boy who is unnamed for legal reasons, said they both had told Father Wilson of their abusive experience with Father James Fletcher.

During the trial, Creigh said that he told Father Wilson in graphic detail of the abuse in 1976, five years after it had occurred. However, Father Wilson said the conversation never took place, noting in a court hearing April 11, “I don’t think I would have forgotten that.”

The second victim said he had told Father Wilson of the abuse in the confessional in 1976, but said that Father Wilson had dismissed the boy with a penance, saying that he was lying. Archbishop Wilson said he would never tell someone in the confessional that they were untruthful and that he did not remember having seen the boy at all in 1976.

Father Fletcher was convicted of nine counts of sexual abuse and was jailed in 2006. He died of a stroke within the year. Archbishop Wilson said he had no previous suspicions about the integrity of Father Fletcher’s character.

Archbishop Wilson also told the court that if he had been notified of the scandal, he would have offered pastoral care to the victims and their families and reported the event to his superiors.

His legal team argued during the trial that child sexual abuse was not understood in the 1970s to be a crime that was required to be reported to authorities. Stone, however, said that protecting the Catholic Church was Father Wilson’s “primary motive” for failing to report the abuse allegations. </s> Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson was sentenced to 12 months in detention on Tuesday after being convicted in May of covering up a priest’s sexual abuse of four boys dating back to the 1970s.

Wilson, who is currently the archbishop of Adelaide, will be eligible for parole after six months, the BBC reports, and may end up not spending his sentence in prison.

Magistrate Robert Stone ordered Wilson to be assessed for home detention on Aug. 14; until then Wilson will be out on bail. Wilson faced a maximum of two years in prison.

“The whole of the community is devastated in so many ways by the decades of abuse and its concealment,” Stone said in court. “We are all the poorer for what has occurred.”

Wilson failed to act after learning that priest James Fletcher reportedly abused four altar boys in the Hunter Valley region outside Sydney. During the trial, Wilson denied knowing about any of Fletcher’s actions even though several of Fletcher’s victims testified in court that they had reported the abuse to Wilson directly.

One of Fletcher’s victims, Peter Creigh, testified that he told Wilson about the abuse five years after it took place, in 1976. An anonymous victim testified that when he reported the abuse to Wilson, the senior clergyman said the boy was telling lies and instructed him to recite 10 Hail Mary prayers.

Wilson, 67, is the most senior Roman Catholic Church official to be convicted of crimes involving child sexual abuse in the history of the church. He has not resigned as archbishop, but has handed over his responsibilities since his conviction in May.

“We have made history here in Australia,” one of Fletcher’s victims, Peter Gogarty, told reporters after the sentencing. “The highest-ranked church official to ever be brought to account for what we know was a worldwide systematic abuse of children and the concealment of that abuse. So I’m content that we’ve done something in Australia that nobody else has been able to manage.”

“In such circumstances we should be very aware of the impact on survivors, their families and all those who love them. I have witnessed the anguish and grief of victims. The church must continue all efforts to listen and support them,” said Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ, the apostolic administrator of the Adelaide Archdiocese. “I reiterate that our commitment to the safety of every child in our Church and schools is paramount.” </s> MELBOURNE, Australia — An Australian archbishop was convicted on Tuesday of covering up a claim of sexual abuse dating back decades, and now faces a prison sentence of up to two years.

Philip Wilson, the archbishop of Adelaide, is the highest-ranking Catholic official in the world to be convicted of concealing such crimes.

The decision comes in the midst of a global reckoning for the Roman Catholic Church, as it grapples with a history of child sexual abuse and cover-ups. Cardinal George Pell, also an Australian and the Vatican’s de facto finance chief, was ordered last month to stand trial on charges of “historical sexual abuse.”

Archbishop Wilson, 67, was accused of covering up abuse by a priest, Jim Fletcher, in the state of New South Wales in the 1970s. </s> Survivors say Australia has made history with a landmark conviction even if Adelaide's Catholic Archbishop does not end up in jail for concealing child sexual abuse.

Philip Wilson, the most senior Catholic official in the world to be convicted of concealing child sex abuse, is likely to serve half of his 12-month sentence in home detention and the remainder on parole.

The 67-year-old will be eligible for parole after six months, emailed court documents show.

The archbishop faced a maximum term of two years in jail and the Newcastle Herald newspaper reported he showed no emotion in court on Tuesday when the sentence was handed down at Newcastle Local Court, 160km north of Sydney.

Dressed in black and wearing a cleric's collar, Wilson made no remarks to journalists outside the court, TV footage showed.

Wilson stood aside last month as the archbishop of Adelaide and is a former president of the Catholic Church's top body in Australia. The Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide had no immediate comment.

The court was told in December last year that Wilson had early stage Alzheimer's disease, a Catholic Church spokesman said last month, a factor that may be taken in to account in determining where he serves the term.

In May, Wilson was convicted of covering up a serious indictable offence by another priest, James Fletcher, after being told about it in 1976 when he was an assistant parish priest in the state of New South Wales.

Lawyers for Wilson, who maintained his innocence throughout the legal process, had argued that he did not know that Fletcher had abused a boy. Fletcher was found guilty in 2004 of nine counts of child sexual abuse and died in jail in 2006 following a stroke.

Originally from the rural Hunter Valley in New South Wales where he served as a young priest, Wilson stepped down as archbishop of Adelaide and was replaced by a Vatican-appointed administrator.

Last year, Australia completed a five-year government-appointed inquiry into child sex abuse in churches and other institutions, amid allegations worldwide that churches had protected paedophile priests by moving them from parish to parish.

The inquiry heard that seven percent of Catholic priests working in Australia between 1950 and 2010 had been accused of child sex crimes and that nearly 1100 people had filed child sexual assault claims against the Anglican Church over 35 years.

Peter Gogarty, a victim of the pedophile priest at the centre of the concealment case, said Wilson had probably been let off "a little bit too lightly" but took comfort in his conviction.

"We have made history here in Australia," Mr Gogarty told reporters outside the Newcastle court.

"The highest ranked Catholic official to ever be brought to account for what we know was a worldwide systematic abuse of children and the concealment of that abuse. So I am content that we've done something in Australia that nobody else has been able to manage."

Another of Fletcher's victims, Daniel Feenan, would have preferred to see Wilson leave the court in handcuffs but hailed the magistrate's decision to impose a 12-month sentence.

"He is the most senior Catholic to ever be charged and he is actually giving him 50 per cent of the maximum term. That is groundbreaking in itself."

The Catholic Church said it hoped the sentence brought some peace for the victims of Fletcher, who died in jail in 2006.

"The Catholic bishops of Australia acknowledge that the effects of sexual abuse can last a lifetime, but we hope that today's custodial sentence brings some sense of peace and healing to those abused by deceased priest James Fletcher."

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference statement acknowledged the courage of survivors in coming forward, saying they had been vital in helping the church learn the lesson of its shameful history of abuse and concealment.

Mr Gogarty and Mr Feenan called for Wilson, who has stood down as Adelaide archbishop, to resign or be removed by Pope Francis.

"If the archbishop does not resign, then the Catholic Church becomes a bigger laughing stock than it already is," Mr Gogarty said.

Bishop Greg O'Kelly, who has administrative and executive authority in the Adelaide archdiocese, did not comment on the sentence but said the church must continue to support survivors.

"We should be very aware of the impact on survivors, their families and all those who love them," the archdiocese's apostolic administrator said.

"I have witnessed the anguish and grief of victims. The church must continue all efforts to listen and support them."

The ACBC said the church had made substantial changes to ensure abuse and cover-up are not part of Catholic life and children are safe. </s> Australian Archbishop, Philip Wilson, the most senior Catholic official in the world to be convicted of concealing child sexual abuse, has resigned, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said in a statement on Monday.

 The 67-year-old Catholic cleric was convicted in May and later sentenced to 12 months in jail for failing to report to the Police, the sexual abuse of two altar boys, by a paedophile priest in the 1970s.

 According to the statement, Pope Francis accepted Wilson’s resignation.

 Wilson, the archbishop of Adelaide, has launched an appeal against his conviction, which is set to continue.

 Calls for his resignation came from all quarters, including Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who welcomed Wilson’s resignation.

 Turnbull said: “I welcome Philip Wilson’s resignation as Archbishop of Adelaide today, which belatedly recognises the many calls, including my own, for him to resign.

 “There is no more important responsibility for community and church leaders than the protection of children.’’ </s> Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson — the most senior Catholic in the world to be convicted of concealing child sex abuse.

There had been intense pressure on Philip Wilson to officially step down from the role, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and other political leaders among those calling for his resignation.

In May, Wilson was found guilty of covering up the abuse of children between 2004 and 2006 at the hands of paedophile priest Jim Fletcher in the 1970s.

In a statement, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said Wilson had "decided that his conviction means he can no longer continue as Archbishop because to do so would continue to cause pain and distress to many, especially to survivors and also in the Archdiocese of Adelaide".

"While the judicial process will continue, Archbishop Wilson's resignation is the next chapter in a heartbreaking story of people who were sexually abused at the hands of Jim Fletcher and whose lives were forever changed," the statement read.

"This decision may bring some comfort to them despite the ongoing pain they bear."

The Prime Minister said the resignation was overdue.

"I welcome Philip Wilson's resignation as Archbishop of Adelaide today which belatedly recognises the many calls, including my own, for him to resign," Mr Turnbull said on Monday night.

"There is no more important responsibility for community and church leaders than the protection of children."

It is understood Mr Turnbull was advised on the weekend that the Archbishop would be resigning.

Wilson was sentenced to 12 months' detention earlier this month and has said he intends to lodge an appeal.

Port Pirie Bishop Greg O'Kelly has been filling in as apostolic administrator of the Adelaide Archdiocese, taking over Philip Wilson's responsibilities.

'Too much pain in my maintaining office': Wilson

In a media release from the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, Wilson said he hoped and prayed that his decision would be a "catalyst to heal pain and distress".

"On July 20 I submitted to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, my resignation from the position of Archbishop of Adelaide," he said.

"Though my resignation was not requested, I made this decision because I have become increasingly worried at the growing level of hurt that my recent conviction has caused within the community.

"I had hoped to defer this decision until after the appeal process had been completed.

"However, there is just too much pain and distress being caused by my maintaining the office of Archbishop of Adelaide, especially to the victims of Fr Fletcher. </s> Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson will appeal his conviction for concealing child sex crimes after refusing to resign and despite calls for his resignation from Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten and senior Catholic priest Frank Brennan.

Wilson announced his intention to appeal to the District Court in a statement a day after he was sentenced to 12 months’ jail, and after senior Australian politicians voiced their concern at the lack of a public response from the Catholic Church.

“Resigning immediately is the very least he can do in this circumstance,” said Opposition Leader Bill Shorten several hours after the Prime Minister said he was surprised that Wilson, 67, hadn’t already resigned after he was convicted on May 22.

In a statement on Wednesday Wilson said he was “conscious of calls for me to resign” and he had “taken them very seriously”.

“However, at this time, I am entitled to exercise my legal rights and to follow the due process of law,” he said. </s> Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson has formally resigned after being found guilty of concealing child abuse in a bid to help survivors move forward.

In May, Wilson became the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of not disclosing abuse to police.

The abuse was committed by priest James Fletcher in the NSW Hunter Valley in the 1970s.

Wilson insisted he would not step aside until his appeal against his 12-month home detention sentence was complete.

But, amid growing calls for his resignation, Wilson wrote to Pope Francis on July 20 requesting to step aside.

His request was accepted and announced on Monday night.

"I made this decision because I have become increasingly worried at the growing level of hurt that my recent conviction has caused within the community," Wilson said in a statement.

"I welcome Philip Wilson's resignation as Archbishop of Adelaide (on Monday) which belatedly recognises the many calls, including my own, for him to resign," he said in a statement.

"There is no more important responsibility for community and church leaders than the protection of children."

Wilson said he initially hoped to delay his decision until the appeal was finished.

"However, there is just too much pain and distress being caused by my maintaining the office of Archbishop of Adelaide, especially to the victims of Fr Fletcher," he wrote.

The appeal is set to continue, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said.

The bishops hoped Wilson's resignation may bring comfort to Fr Fletcher's victims.

"This decision may bring some comfort to them, despite the ongoing pain they bear," the ACBC said.

The Adelaide Archdiocese was placed under the care of Bishop Greg O'Kelly following the guilty verdict and he will remain in charge until Wilson's replacement is appointed by the Pope. </s> (CNN) — The highest ranking Catholic official to be convicted of covering up sex abuse has been spared prison and sentenced to six months’ home detention in Australia, due to his ailing health and age.

The Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson was found guilty in May of concealing the abuse of altar boys in the 1970s by pedophile priest James Fletcher.

Wilson, 67, who stepped aside from his role after his conviction but has not yet resigned, had been facing a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

It is a landmark conviction that could have far-reaching implications for other clergy members as the child sexual abuse scandal continues to hit the Catholic Church globally.

Making his ruling in front of a packed courtroom in Newcastle, New South Wales, Magistrate Robert Stone handed Wilson a 12 month prison sentence. However, due to his physical condition, Stone said Wilson would be given six months’ home detention, followed by six months parole.

Magistrate Robert Stone told Wilson the reason for his sentence was due to the “the criminality of the concealment” and recognizing the “harm done to the community.”

The magistrate noted during his decision that there was now “so much public outcry” regarding child abuse cover up in the Catholic Church and other religious groups.

“Therefore I consider it a matter that should be regarded as serious,” said Stone. “By concealing abuse it is demonstrating you are placing the needs of the perpetrator above the child.”

Wilson did not say anything on leaving court, ignoring repeated questions from the media about whether he would resign or apologize to the victims.

After the magistrate handed down his decision he asked Wilson to stand and told him his sentence. Survivors in the court including victims of Fletcher muttered their frustration the archbishop was not sent to prison. “It’s basically a holiday,” one lady said.

Speaking outside the court, victim Peter Gogarty said he was “disappointed that it’s not a custodial sentence,” but expressed hope Wilson would be assessed as unsuitable for home detention and end up behind bars.

There will be a hearing on August 14 to determine whether home detention is appropriate for Wilson and where he could stay, with his sister’s house raised as one option.

“We have made history here in Australia, (this is the) highest ranked church official to ever be brought to account for what we know is a world wide systematic abuse of children and the concealment of that abuse,” Gogarty said. “We have done something in Australia which no one else has been able to manage.”

CNN understands from sources in Rome that Pope Francis will not ask Wilson, who has held his senior post for 18 years, to resign until it is decided if he will appeal.

Gogarty said Wilson should resign, adding that if he does not “then the Catholic Church becomes a bigger laughing stock than it already is.”

Des Cahil, a professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and adviser to the Australian Royal Commission on child abuse, said Wilson had received a “just and fair sentence, given the circumstances that he was a young priest at the time, firmly under the influence of a clericalism that says church law prevails over criminal law.”

Other victims advocates were less enthused. Chrissie Foster, who is credited with helping to establish the Royal Commission after two of her three daughters were abused by a Melbourne bishop, said it was “outrageous.”

“We all understand how clergy perpetrators got away with so many crimes against children and how the trademark coverups of priests like Wilson helped,” she added. “Today society expects more than a slap on the wrist of those who helped prolong clergy sexual crimes against children.”

Detective Jeff Little, who led the investigation into Wilson, emphasized outside court that the Archbishop could still end up in prison if he is assessed unsuitable for home detention.

“But the most important thing here is the actual conviction,” Little said.

Mary-Jane Creigh, the sister of Peter Creigh, the victim who was ignored by Wilson in 1976, read a statement from her brother outside court after he was too ill to attend.

Creigh praised the efforts of Little and other investigators, saying without them Wilson’s conviction “would not have been possible.”

He expressed hope it would lead to more probes into the Catholic Church, an “organization that has betrayed society on such a huge scale.”

In a statement, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said it hoped “today’s custodial sentence brings some sense of peace and healing to those abused by deceased priest James Fletcher.”

“The Church has made substantial changes to ensure that abuse and coverup are not part of Catholic life and that children are safe in our communities,” it added.

The statement did not mention whether Wilson should resign from his position or if the Church would take any additional action against him.

Wilson’s legal defense had argued during an earlier hearing two weeks ago that a conviction and a good behavior bond was sufficient for the crime.

The Archbishop’s lawyers previously argued he had been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease which should preclude him from trial, but the bid was rejected.

Wilson was an assistant priest when Fletcher, a Catholic priest based in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, abused altar boys in the mid-1970s.

The Archbishop, failed to report the abuse to authorities, allowing Fletcher to remain in the clergy and abuse other children in the following years.

Wilson and Fletcher went their separate ways after 1976. Wilson would begin his climb through the church’s hierarchy, which would culminate in him becoming the Archbishop of Adelaide in 2001.

Fletcher was never charged with any offending relating to his behavior in 1976. However, in 2004, Fletcher was convicted of eight counts of child abuse and sentenced to 10 years. The eight charges were committed between 1989 and 1991.

Fletcher died in prison in 2006, a year after he sentenced to 10 years. Wilson was charged in 2015, accused of failing to report Fletcher’s abuse to police.

During the case Crown prosecutor Gareth Harrison had to prove that former alter boy Peter Creig told Archbishop Wilson about the sexual abuse in 1976.

On the day Wilson was convicted, Criegh, who waived his right to a non-publication order on his name, said it was a “very, very significant day.”

“It’s a decision that will hopefully unravel the hypocrisy, the deceit, and the abuse of power and trust that the Church has displayed,” he told the ABC.

In October, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will issue a formal apology to child sexual abuse victims as part of the government’s response to a sweeping five-year inquiry in institutional child abuse.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released its final report last December, describing a “serious failure” by Australia’s institutions to protect child victims and listing 409 recommendations.

The landmark report estimated that tens of thousands of children had been abused in Australian churches, youth groups, care homes and schools, in what the commission described as a “national tragedy.”

In recent weeks, Pope Francis has said he felt ashamed of the church’s failure to listen to victims of child sex abuse and has called for an end to the culture of abuse and coverup.
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, is sentenced to 12 months in detention for covering up child sexual abuse in the 1970s. Pope Francis appoints Port Pirie Bishop Gregory O'Kelly as Apostolic Administrator, but with special near-full powers to govern the Archdiocese, though for now Wilson is still the Archbishop.