Former Australian bishop sentenced to six and a half years for abusing Indigenous youths

Christopher Alan Saunders, a 76-year-old former Catholic bishop in Australia, has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison for the sexual abuse of two Indigenous youths. He is one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Australia to be sentenced in connection with the global abuse scandal in the Church.

The District Court of Western Australia handed down the sentence Wednesday after a three-week trial in which a jury found Saunders guilty of 13 of the 19 charges against him. He can apply for parole from February 2031.

The abuse took place between 2008 and 2019 in the Diocese of Broome, on Australia's northwest coast. The diocese covers an area larger than France and has a population of about 50,000 people, most of them Indigenous. Saunders led it from 1996 until he resigned in 2021. Prosecutors said he lured Indigenous youths to his church-owned house with alcohol and cigarettes paid for with church funds.

The Vatican investigated Saunders from 2022 and its report reached police

The Vatican began investigating Saunders in 2022, and the resulting report went to Western Australia Police the following year. Police charged him in 2024. The report was not officially published, but it was leaked to the Australian television network Seven Network, which reported that Saunders had probably sexually abused four Indigenous youths and may have groomed another 67 Indigenous youths and men.

The bishops' conference apologizes to victims

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said the sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes Saunders committed and the deep impact they have had on victims and survivors. In a statement, Costelloe addressed those affected: "To every victim and survivor who bravely disclosed what they had endured, we want to say this: We are sorry for the pain and suffering inflicted on you. We are sorry that your trust was so directly and profoundly betrayed by a leader of the Church."

Other cases involving senior Australian churchmen

The case follows other prominent prosecutions of senior clergy in Australia. Cardinal George Pell was convicted of abusing choirboys, and Archbishop Philip Wilson of concealing sexual abuse by a priest. Both later won appeals against their convictions.

At the trial in August, Saunders was acquitted of six charges involving a third complainant, including indecent dealing with a minor over 16. The age of consent in Western Australia is 16, but it rises to 18 when the adult is in a position of trust, power or responsibility. Four charges involving a child under 13 were dismissed on the first day of the trial.