Australian Court Jails Ex-Bishop for Sex Offences

A former Australian Catholic bishop, Christopher Alan Saunders, has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison for sexual offences against young men, a court official said on Wednesday.

Saunders, the former bishop of Broome, was sentenced by a Western Australian court, with his sentence backdated to August 12.

Saunders, who was among Australia’s most senior Catholic clergy for decades, was convicted in August of one count of sexual penetration without consent and 12 counts of unlawful and indecent assault.

A statement from one of his victims, read in court, described the lasting psychological and emotional impact of the abuse. The victim said Saunders had treated them as something he could use and that the experience had left them in severe pain.

“I was a toy that he was using… my head is pounding now, I’m in so much pain.”

“I can’t talk about it,” the person said in the statement reported by national broadcaster ABC.

Saunders led the Diocese of Broome for more than two decades. The vast diocese covers a large area of northwestern Australia, including numerous remote Aboriginal communities.

He stepped down as bishop in 2020 after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced in the Australian media but retained the honorary title of emeritus bishop.

An initial police investigation did not produce enough evidence to charge him, while Saunders continued to deny the allegations.

However, with persistent rumours swirling around the clergyman, the Vatican opened its own investigation in 2022 under powers introduced by the Catholic Church to investigate sexual abuse allegations involving senior clergy.

The investigation was conducted under Vos estis lux mundi, a framework introduced in 2019 to strengthen the Church’s handling of abuse allegations against senior officials.

The Vatican’s findings were later provided to Australian police, who reopened their investigation and subsequently brought charges against Saunders.

Following Wednesday’s sentencing, Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, acknowledged the serious impact of Saunders’ offences on his victims and survivors.

Costelloe expressed the Church’s regret over the abuse and the betrayal of trust involved, saying victims who came forward had shown considerable courage.

He also described the offences for which Saunders was sentenced as a shameful episode for the Catholic Church and said the institution must continue its efforts to address the consequences of abuse.

“To each victim and survivor who courageously revealed what they had endured, we want to say this: We are sorry for the pain and suffering that was inflicted on you. We are sorry that your trust was so directly and profoundly betrayed by a leader of the Church,” he said.

“The journey of the Church must also continue. The crimes for which the former bishop of Broome has been sentenced today are a shocking and shameful reminder of this.”