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> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Philip Wilson was found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse

Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson has resigned after being convicted of concealing child sex abuse.

In May, he was given a one-year sentence for failing to report allegations of abuse by a priest in the 1970s.

Wilson is the world's most senior Roman Catholic cleric to be convicted of the offence.

Earlier this month, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on the Pope to sack him.

During his trial, Wilson denied any knowledge of abuse committed by priest James Fletcher during his time as an assistant priest in Maitland, 130km (80 miles) north of Sydney.

Fletcher was convicted of nine child sexual abuse charges in 2004, and died in jail in 2006.

However, the magistrate found that Wilson had been told about the abuse by the young victims and that he had failed to report the crimes because he wanted to protect the Church's reputation.

Wilson has said he will appeal against his conviction. He could avoid jail after the court ordered he be assessed for "home detention". </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> 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> The most senior figure in the Catholic church so far to be found guilty of covering up for crimes of child sexual abuse has been found guilty by an Australian court.

The Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson could face two years in jail when sentenced in June. </s> VATICAN CITY, July 30 (Reuters) - Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world found guilty of concealing child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, has resigned, the Vatican said on Monday.

The Vatican said Pope Francis had accepted the resignation.

Wilson, 67, of Adelaide, was convicted in May of failing to disclose to police abuse by another priest, James Fletcher, after being told about it in 1976 by two victims, one of them an altar boy who told him inside the confessional. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Kevin Liffey) </s> Adelaide Archbishop Philip Edward Wilson has been found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse allegations against another priest after a landmark hearing in Newcastle Local Court.

Archbishop Wilson – who was the most senior Catholic cleric to be charged with failing to report child sexual abuse to police – showed no emotion as Magistrate Robert Stone delivered his lengthy judgement on Tuesday in front of a packed courtroom.

It is a decision that could have wide-reaching implications for other high-ranking clergy members.

The 67-year-old Archbishop was accused of failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse against paedophile priest Father Jim Fletcher, who died in jail in 2006.

Peter Creigh, a former altar boy, who bravely waived his right to a non-publication order on his name, had told the eight-day hearing that in 1976 he told Archbishop Wilson, then a junior priest at St Joseph’s Church, East Maitland, that Father Fletcher had subjected him to acts of punishment and sexual abuse about five years earlier. </s> Adelaide archbishop Philip Wilson has been found guilty of concealing child sex abuse during the 1970s in the NSW Hunter region.

Magistrate Robert Stone handed down the verdict in Newcastle local court on Tuesday following a magistrate-only trial. He faces a maximum two years in prison.

The clergyman is the most senior Catholic official in the world to be charged and convicted of the offence.

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Wilson was accused of covering up the abuse of four boys by paedophile priest James Fletcher during the 1970s. 

Wilson has been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and claimed to have no memory of a 1976 conversation he had with Peter Creigh, one of the alleged victims.

Wilson’s legal team had tried four times to have the case thrown out, including on grounds of his Alzheimer’s, even though he maintained the impairment was not severe enough to stand down from his job.



The defence argued Wilson was not guilty because there was no evidence to prove the archbishop was told about the abuse, believed it was true or remembered being told about it.

Fletcher was found guilty in December 2004 of nine counts of child sexual abuse and died in jail of a stroke in January 2006.



Witnesses said they had told Wilson of the abuse but he failed to follow up their complaints. One witness, now in his 50s, said Wilson told him the abuse claims were lies because Fletcher “was a good bloke”. </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.”
Philip Wilson, the Catholic archbishop of Adelaide, Australia, is convicted of concealing sexual abuse of children from authorities.