The former Bishop of Broome Christopher Alan Saunders was yesterday found guilty of sexually abusing young Aboriginal men. Source: ABC News.
Saunders, 76, has been on trial accused of sex offences against three young men when he was the bishop of a remote area of Western Australia three times larger than England.
After a trial that ran for more than three weeks, a District Court of Western Australia jury took almost seven hours to find him guilty of abusing two of those men.
Saunders was convicted of one count of sexual penetration and 12 counts of indecent assault. He was found not guilty of six other charges.
There was no reaction from the former bishop after the verdicts were read out.
The victims were young Aboriginal men who lived in the Kimberley, where Indigenous people make up more than 40 per cent of the population.
The assaults happened at various places, including at the former bishop’s Catholic church-owned residence in Broome and at a retreat known as the beach house.
As he chose not to give evidence in his defence, the playing of police interview recordings were the only occasions when the jurors could hear denials from Saunders himself.
In closing submissions, prosecutor Adam Ebell said while the victims did have criminal histories, the jurors should focus on what they said happened to them at the hands of Saunders, a trusted figure at least one of the men referred to as “Brother B”.
Defence lawyer Tony Hager said his client’s behaviour might have been unusual, “boozy” and “sleazy”.
But Mr Hager said Saunders wasn’t on trial for inviting young Aboriginal men over to have a drink, or for using Church funds to buy alcohol, or for taking alcohol to a dry community.
Saunders will next face court on September 21 for a sentencing hearing. He made no application for bail and has been remanded in custody.
In a statement, Broome Bishop Tim Norton SVD apologised to victims, saying the diocese was “deeply sorry for the hurt they have experienced”.
“We are sorry for the shame they have endured,” he wrote.
FULL STORY
Former Broome bishop Christopher Saunders guilty of sexually abusing young men (By David Weber, ABC News)
Pastoral Letter from Bishop Tim Norton SVD (Broome Diocese)
Christopher Alan Saunders: Ex-bishop of Broome found guilty of sexually abusing young Aboriginal men (The West Australian)
Former Broome bishop convicted of sexually abusing young indigenous men in WA’s Kimberley (7news.com.au)
