Former Australian Catholic bishop sentenced for abusing Indigenous men

A former Australian Catholic bishop was sentenced Wednesday to six years and six months in prison for sexually abusing two young Indigenous men.

A District Court of Western Australia state jury convicted Christopher Saunders, 76, in August of 13 out of 19 charges of sexual abuse that occurred between 2008 and 2019 in his sprawling Broome Diocese on the country’s tropical northwest coast.

Saunders will become eligible for parole in February, 2031.

Saunders was acquitted of six charges involving a third accuser. He was accused of indecent dealing with a child over the age of 16. The age of consent in Western Australia is 16, but the law raises it to 18 if the older person is in a position of trust, power or responsibility.

Four charges involving a child younger than 13 were dropped on the first day of Saunders’ three-week trial.

Saunders is one of the most senior Australian Catholics to be convicted in a global clergy abuse scandal that has faced the Vatican for years.

Cardinal George Pell was convicted of abusing choirboys, and Archbishop Philip Wilson was convicted of covering up child sex abuse by a priest. But both clerics successfully appealed their convictions.

Prosecutors alleged Saunders lured young Indigenous men to his church-owned house with alcohol and cigarettes paid for with church funds.

Saunders led the remote Broome Diocese from 1996 until he resigned in 2021. The Outback diocese covers an area larger than France with only 50,000 people. Most of the region’s Catholics are Indigenous.

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said the sentence recognized the gravity and serious nature of Saunders’ offenses.

The sentence also recognized the profound impact on the victims and survivors of Saunders’ crimes, Costelloe said.

“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,” Costelloe said in a statement.

The Vatican began investigating Saunders in 2022, then handed the Western Australia Police Force a report on its findings the following year. Police charged Saunders in 2024.

一名澳大利亚前天主教主教周三被判处六年零六个月监禁，罪名是性侵两名年轻的原住民男子。

西澳大利亚州地方法院陪审团于 8 月裁定 76 岁的克里斯托弗·桑德斯犯有 19 项性虐待指控中的 13 项罪名，这些指控发生在 2008 年至 2019 年期间，地点位于他位于该国热带西北海岸的庞大的布鲁姆教区。

桑德斯将于 2031 年 2 月获得假释资格。

桑德斯被判无罪，他被控六项罪名，其中一项涉及第三名原告。他被指控与一名16岁以上的儿童进行猥​​亵行为。西澳大利亚州的法定性同意年龄为16岁，但如果年长者处于信任、权力或责任地位，则法律将法定同意年龄提高至18岁。

在桑德斯为期三周的审判的第一天，涉及一名 13 岁以下儿童的四项指控被撤销。

桑德斯是因全球神职人员性侵丑闻而被定罪的澳大利亚最高级别天主教徒之一，这起丑闻多年来一直困扰着梵蒂冈。

乔治·佩尔枢机主教被判犯有虐待唱诗班男童罪，菲利普·威尔逊大主教被判犯有掩盖一名神父性侵儿童罪。但这两位神职人员都成功推翻了他们的判决。

检方指控桑德斯用教会的资金购买酒水和香烟，引诱年轻的原住民男子到他位于教会所有的房屋中。

桑德斯自1996年起担任偏远的布鲁姆教区主教，直至2021年辞职。这个位于内陆地区的教区面积比法国还大，但人口只有5万。该地区的大多数天主教徒都是原住民。

澳大利亚天主教主教会议主席蒂莫西·科斯特洛大主教表示，该判决承认了桑德斯罪行的严重性和严重性。

科斯特洛表示，判决还承认桑德斯的罪行对受害者和幸存者造成了深远的影响。

科斯特洛在一份声明中说：“对于每一位勇敢地揭露自己所遭受苦难的受害者和幸存者，我们想说：我们对你们所遭受的痛苦和折磨深感抱歉。我们对你们的信任被教会领袖如此直接和深刻地背叛深感抱歉。”

梵蒂冈于2022年开始对桑德斯展开调查，并在次年向西澳大利亚警方提交了调查报告。警方于2024年对桑德斯提出指控。