Australian court sentences one-year imprisonment to Archbishop Philip Wilson for hiding child sex abuse

Newcastle, July 3: Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide is all set to serve one-year imprisonment for hiding the child sex abuse and protecting the abusers. 

Notably, an Australian court on Tuesday convicted Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide for covering up child sex abuse and sentenced an imprisonment for one year. However, Archbishop Philip Wilson will not go immediately into custody as his suitability of going in home detention will be considered on August 14. Also, the Adelaide Archbishop will have to serve at least 6 months before he is eligible for parole.

In May this year, Newcastle Magistrate Robert Stone found the 67-year-old Archbishop guilty of failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by pedophile priest James Fletcher in the Hunter Valley region north of Sydney during the 1970s. Stone further said that Wilson failed to act against Fletcher because he wanted to protect the church and its image.

“The whole of the community is devastated in so many ways by the decades of abuse and its concealment,” the magistrate said adding, “We are all the poorer for what has occurred.”

Meanwhile, survivors of abuse protested against the church outside the court on Tuesday and demanded Wilson to resign as archbishop. They carried signs accusing the church of hypocrisy and describing it as a “fraudulent cult.”

One of Fletcher’s victims, Peter Gogarty, an advocate for fellow survivors, said he was disappointed that Wilson had walked free from court, but “there is no doubt the archbishop has received a significant sentence.” Survivors remained pleased by the landmark conviction, he added.

“We have made history here in Australia: The highest-ranked church official to ever be brought to account for what we know was a worldwide systematic abuse of children and the concealment of that abuse,” Gogarty told reporters. “So I’m content that we’ve done something in Australia that nobody else has been able to manage.”

Another victim, Daniel Feenan, said he would not have been abused by Fletcher as a 12-year-old in 1988 if Wilson had spoken out about the allegations he heard in 1976. “I do feel I’ve got justice,” Feenan said after the sentencing. “It’s an absolutely strong message today,” he added.

Interestingly, Fletcher was arrested on unrelated child abuse charges in 2004 and died in prison of a stroke in 2006 while serving an almost eight-year sentence. On the other side, Wilson stepped down as Adelaide archbishop after he was convicted in May.