Archbishop sentenced for abuse cover-up
SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian archbishop, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world convicted of concealing child sex abuse in the church, was sentenced to a year in detention on Tuesday.
Philip Wilson, 67, will remain on bail while he is assessed by prison authorities for home detention, instead of jail, and will face court next month for a decision on where he will serve the sentence.
“There is no remorse or contrition shown by the offender,” Newcastle Court Magistrate Robert Stone said of Wilson in emailed sentencing remarks. “The offender is a senior figure in one of the most respected institutions in our society … parishioners were betrayed most callously and cruelly because of their misplaced faith, trust and respect, not only by the perpetrator but as in this case by those who knew and concealed it.”
Wilson was convicted in May of not disclosing to police abuse by another priest, James Fletcher, after being told about it in 1976 by two victims, including an altar boy who told him inside the confessional. Fletcher was found guilty in 2004 of nine counts of child sexual abuse and died in jail in 2006 following a stroke. Lawyers for Wilson, who maintained his innocence throughout the legal process, had argued that he did not know that Fletcher had abused a boy.