Posted on 08/16/2023 7:57:26 PM PDT by Morgana
Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston has been found not guilty of concealing the crimes of his paedophile father.
Australian prosecutors had argued Brian Houston tried to cover up his father's sexual abuse of a child in the 1970s.
The Church founder has said he learned of the abuse only decades later and did not report it because the victim did not want police involved.
Frank Houston, who died in 2004, is believed to have used his position as a pastor to abuse as many as nine boys.
Victim Brett Sengstock - who has waived his right to anonymity - was seven when his family hosted the New Zealand pastor at their home while he was on a preaching tour in Sydney.
It was then that Frank Houston sexually abused him for the first time - abuse which continued over several years when the pastor moved to Australia.
On Thursday, Magistrate Gareth Christofi ruled that Brian Houston had a "reasonable excuse" under the law not to tell authorities about the abuse when he learned about it in 1999.
Prosecutors had said that Mr Houston had no regard for Mr Sengstock's wishes, but rather his "only focus" was protecting the Church. That the victim did not want police involved was a convenient excuse, they said.
But the magistrate said a convenient excuse may also be a reasonable one.
"It may be that in this case there is an alignment between the interest of Mr Sengstock and the interest of the Church," he said.
Founded by Mr Houston in Sydney 40 years ago, Hillsong has become a global megachurch known for a brand of modern evangelism that has attracted millions of followers.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
There are mandatory reporting laws that affect many people, including church leaders.
I know of a recent case where a friend of mine was informed of an abuse situation that involved to minors.
Literally within five minutes the proper people were informed.
There is no wiggle room.
The confession from father to son came decades after the event involving the one identified victim. Their denomination and their court opined that the victim had by that time been an adult for years and could make his own report. The son said that the victim didn't want to go through a police investigation; however, the victim did testify in court.
What the victim wants doesn’t count when it comes to criminal acts.
However, the victim must first be identified to, or by, law enforcement. This victim's name had not come forward at the time of, or for years after, the abuse by the father until someone recently went after the son, accusing him and the church of a coverup. At that point, the victim did testify.
If you had read the article in spite of FR's current social contagion of people who don't read the article before posting criticisms of the posts of those who did read the article, it might have been clear.
I read the article. The scumbag molested 9 children that they know of.
His scumbag son had no right to keep that info to himself.
I did not take from the article that the son knew about any of the others until the court case came around, years later.
Pedophilies almost always have multiple victims, sometimes hundreds before they finally get caught.
This slime all is without excuse.
Mandatory reporter means mandatory reporter.
But it doesn't mean mind reader. Of course the father did everything he could to hide his wicked deeds. I was so struck by the son's comment that when his father ultimately confessed to the one victim's abuse involved in this court case, "it was like the Twin Towers of my life" or words to that effect.
I can't imagine the devastation, and the heartsearching over anything his father may have done in the family or to him when small. Did he grill his father over whether there was anyone else? It seems only logical that he did, and that the father denied it. The son did reach out to the victim and claims that victim did not want to come forward.
I suppose you are in favor of priests having to break the seal of confession as well.
I’m not catholic so I don’t go along with their secrecy garbage.
When some dirtbag ruins the life of a child and confesses it, the priest has an absolute duty to report it.
Catholic priests are the most guilty because they have been hiding molesters for decades. I’ve personally known some.
Zero tolerance. Zero.
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