Wilson handed 12 months’ imprisonment but may be allowed to serve time in home detention

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The most senior Catholic official in the world to be convicted of concealing child sex abuse is likely to be spared time in prison.

Adelaide’s Archbishop Philip Wilson was found guilty in May of failing to report to police the abuse of two altar boys by a paedophile priest in the 1970s.

The magistrate Robert Stone in Newcastle local court on Tuesday sentenced the 67-year-old to 12 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of six months. He ordered that Wilson be assessed for home detention.

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

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Several people in the packed courtroom sighed at the mention of home detention.

An abuse survivor, Peter Gogarty, said he was a “little disappointed” with the sentence but the fact he had been convicted was still significant.

“My personal view is that is probably letting him off a little bit too lightly,” he told reporters outside court.

Peter Creigh and another altar boy told Wilson in 1976 that the priest James Fletcher had repeatedly abused them in the New South Wales Hunter region but the clergyman had done nothing.

Creigh, who was just 10 years old when he was targeted by Fletcher, trusted that Wilson – then an assistant priest – would take action.

The second altar boy, who can’t be named for legal reasons, said he was about 11 when he went into the confessional box to tell Wilson that Fletcher had abused him. He said Wilson had told him he was telling lies because Fletcher “was a good bloke”.

Wilson’s offence related to the 2004 to 2006 period, when Fletcher had been charged with child sex offences and the magistrate found Wilson had obtained the level of belief needed to report what he knew to authorities.

The archbishop, who is potentially suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, told his landmark magistrate-only trial that he couldn’t remember being told about the abuse.

He said the conversation with Creigh was unlikely to have occurred, as Creigh during his evidence said he had gone into graphic details about what Fletcher had done to him.

Wilson agreed under cross-examination that he would have been horrified and would remember the discussion.

But the magistrate rejected Wilson’s claims, suggesting the clergyman knew “what he was hearing was a credible allegation”.

“In addition, the accused wanted to protect the church and its image,” Stone said when convicting Wilson.

Another victim of Fletcher’s, Daniel Feenan, has said if Wilson had gone to police in 1976 the paedophile priest “would never have got to me”.

Fletcher was found guilty in 2004 of nine counts of child sexual abuse and died in jail of a stroke in 2016.

The Apostolic Administrator of the Adelaide Archdiocese, Bishop Greg O’Kelly, said it would be “inappropriate” for him to make any comment about Wilson’s future.

Wilson stood aside as Archbishop in May, but has not resigned.

“Archbishop Wilson was sentenced today to a non-parole period of imprisonment of six months with an additional period of six months to be served on parole,” O’Kelly said. “The proceedings have been adjourned until August 14 during which time he will be assessed for suitability for home detention.

“It is therefore inappropriate that I make any further comment about this case.”

O’Kelly said the Archdiocese was “very aware of the impact on survivors, their families and all those who love them”.

“I have witnessed the anguish and grief of victims,” he said. “The church must continue all efforts to listen and support them. I reiterate that our commitment to the safety of every child in our church and schools is paramount.”

The Archdiocese cannot remove Wilson from his role – only Pope Francis has the authority.

“The arrangements made by Pope Francis for my care of the Archdiocese as Apostolic Administrator remain in place,” O’Kelly said. Earlier in June, Francis appointed O’Kelly to take over Wilson’s duty while he had stood aside.