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CRIME-RELIGION-AUSTRALIA
Australian archbishop to appeal conviction for concealing abuse
SYDNEY, July 4, 2018 (BSSAFP) – An Australian archbishop sentenced to a
year in jail for covering up child sex abuse announced Friday that he would
appeal his conviction and ignore calls he resign from his position.
Philip Wilson, the 67-year-old archbishop of Adelaide, was found guilty in
May of concealing abuse by notorious paedophile priest Jim Fletcher New South
Wales state during the 1970s.
One of the highest-ranked church officials convicted of covering up child
sex abuse, Wilson was sentenced on Tuesday to 12 months’ imprisonment, though
the court ordered he be assessed for home detention, with a decision due next
month.
Wilson issued a statement Wednesday saying he would appeal his conviction
and retain his position in the Church.
“I am conscious of calls for me to resign and have taken them very
seriously. However, at this time, I am entitled to exercise my legal rights
and to follow the due process of law,” he said.
“Since that process is not yet complete, I do not intend to resign at this
time. However, if I am unsuccessful in my appeal, I will immediately offer my
resignation to the Holy See.”
Wilson stepped aside from his church duties following his conviction in
May.
In sentencing Wilson on Tuesday, Newcastle Local Court magistrate Robert
Stone noted that the church official had shown “no remorse or contrition” and
argued that the 12-month sentence “should not be suspended”.
“It does not support the terms of general deterrence,” he added. “On that
basis, the only available remaining option is full-time imprisonment or home
detention.”
He justified the home detention option due to Wilson’s age, prior good
record and that he was unlikely to reoffend.
There was no dispute during the trial that Fletcher, who is now dead,
sexually abused an altar boy.
The hearing instead focused on whether Wilson, then a junior priest, was
told about it.
Wilson served as a priest in New South Wales before Pope John Paul II
appointed him Bishop of Wollongong in 1996. Five years later he became the
Archbishop of Adelaide.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1236 hrs