Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson found guilty of sex abuse cover-up in Newcastle court
SOUTH Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic Church official, Archbishop Philip Wilson, is facing jail after he was convicted of covering up a paedophile priest colleague’s sexual abuse of altar boys.
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- Abused then accused … priest’s victims now vindicated
- Archbishop claims to have no memory of being told of abuse
- Victim gives harrowing evidence in alleged cover-up trial
- Archbishop deemed fit to stand trial, despite dementia diagnosis
SOUTH Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic Church official is facing jail after he was convicted of landmark charges that he covered up a paedophile priest colleague’s sexual abuse of altar boys.
More than three years after first being charged, Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Edward Wilson, 67, was formally found guilty on Tuesday by a New South Wales magistrate of concealing serious crimes within the church.
The Archbishop, who has early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, has become the world’s highest-ranking church official to be successfully prosecuted for concealing historic abuse from the 1970s and 1980s.
Wilson looked stunned in the front row as Magistrate Robert Stone found him guilty of concealing a serious indictable offence of another person between April 22, 2004 and January 7, 2006 at East Maitland, near Newcastle, 165km north of Sydney.
He then appeared to pray.
The Archbishop, who tried to have the case dismissed four times, had denied the charge.
He now faces a maximum two years in jail. Sentencing will occur at a later date.
In a statement following the verdict, Wilson said he was “obviously disappointed at the decision published today”.
“I will now have to consider the reasons and consult closely with my lawyers to determine the next steps,” he said.
“I do not propose to make any further comment at this stage.”
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge said “it is not yet clear if (Wilson) will appeal the verdict”.
“The Catholic Church, like other institutions, has learned a great deal about the tragedy of child sexual abuse and has implemented stronger programs, policies and procedures to protect children and vulnerable adults,” he said.
“The safety of children and vulnerable adults is paramount for the Church and its ministries.”
While an appeal is highly likely, it is unclear whether Wilson will stand down from his position in the interim.
Wilson originally stood down from his duties when he was first charged in March 2015 but later returned to his job.
At the time he said he would “vigorously defend my innocence”.
Surrounded by Australia's media, #Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson stays quiet as he enters #Newcastle Local Court. He has denied claims he concealed child abuse by a former colleague priest on altar boys @theTiser pic.twitter.com/OgYHSjijPA
— Andrew Hough (@andrew_hough) May 21, 2018
During his eight-day trial, he never spoke outside court about the charges, first laid by NSW Strike Force Lantle detectives who investigated sexual abuse allegations in the Newcastle-Maitland diocese.
Prosecutors successfully proved that Wilson was repeatedly told of the crimes committed by Father James Patrick “Jim” Fletcher on several young Hunter Valley altar boys.
They also proved beyond reasonable doubt that he failed to inform authorities that he had “information that might be of material assistance”.
While the Archbishop denied being told, he admitted during the trial that he now accepted the boys had been abused.
His legal team claimed that there were “serious doubts” about whether the case fell on deaf ears.
The magistrate, who presided over the first such trial of its type, accepted claims the Archbishop, then a 25-year-old junior priest, was told twice in 1976 of Fletcher’s horrific “punishments” of Peter Aidan Creigh, then aged 10, five years earlier.
He also believed prosecution allegations that over the next 30 years the priest was repeatedly told, or reminded, of Fletcher’s abuse.
Prosecutors had argued the Archbishop was a “consummate Catholic politician” who was central to the “entrenched toxic culture of covering things up”.
Prosecutor Gareth Harrison told the court that as the Archbishop tried to absolve himself of any guilt, he acted like a “cat on a hot tin roof”.
Wilson, who denied he was friends with Fletcher, testified he had “no memory” of, or “can’t remember”, the conversations in 1976 that detailed his former flatmate’s depraved actions.
Fletcher, 66, was convicted at trial and jailed for 10 years in 2005 over the abuse of one altar boy but died in prison the following year.
The identities of Fletcher’s multiple victims remain a court-imposed secret but Mr Creigh, 57, bravely waived his legal right to anonymity during the trial’s opening week in December last year.
During Mr Creigh’s harrowing evidence – which the Archbishop described as “trustworthy” — he told how he was gripped by a “heavy and tight guilt collar”.
In his own evidence, Wilson stated he only “formed a belief” of sexual abuse if the charges were proved in court or a predator pleaded guilty.
His legal team had argued his evidence was methodical and honest – assertions found to be false.
TIMELINE OF THE CASE
October 1950: Philip Edward Wilson is born in Cessnock, New South Wales.
February to November 1971 : Father James “Jim” Patrick Fletcher indecently assaults young altar boy Peter Aidan Creigh, then aged 10, up to 15 times in an East Maitland Catholic Church.
August 1975 : Philip Wilson ordained as a priest in Cessnock.
October: Fr Wilson moves to the St Joseph’s parish in East Maitland.
April 1976: Mr Creigh alleges he told Father Wilson about Fletcher’s sexual abuse after a youth group close to Easter and is told matter will be investigated.
September : Mr Creigh again allegedly raises issue with Fr Wilson after a youth meeting where he is told it is being “looked into”. Nothing further occurs.
Late 1976 : A second altar boy allegedly tells Fr Wilson during confession how Fletcher also abused him.
Between 1984 and 1987: Fletcher abuses a third altar boy.
December 2001: Father Wilson appointed Adelaide Archbishop.
May 2003 : Fletcher is charged with abusing another altar boy.
November 2004 : Fletcher stands trial in NSW accused of those crimes.
December: Fletcher is convicted of nine counts of child sexual abuse.
April 2005: Fletcher is jailed for 10 years.
September: His appeal against conviction is dismissed.
January 2006: Fletcher dies in prison aged 65.
November 2009: Mr Creigh tells his family for the first time about Fletcher’s abuse.
July 2010: He tells his local Bishop about the abuse and the pair meet the next month. The Bishop later writes to Mr Creigh outlining what support he would offer.
February 2013: Mr Creigh first interviewed by police before giving a second statement two months later.
June 2014: Archbishop Wilson give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
March 2015: Detectives from a special NSW Police strike force charge Archbishop Wilson with covering up child sex abuse. He becomes the highest-ranking Catholic Church official to face court charged with such a crime. He publicly denies the charges.
May 2015: The case has its first hearing in Newcastle.
October 2016: The NSW Supreme Court dismisses the Archbishop’s application for a permanent stay of proceedings.
June 2017: The Full Court of the Supreme Court also dismisses his subsequent appeal.
November 6: Key prosecution witness Father Glen Walsh dies, three weeks before the Archbishop’s trial.
November 28: The Archbishop fails to travel to Newcastle as his Alzheimer’s diagnosis is made public amid concerns for his health, including having a pacemaker installed.
December 6: The trial starts at Newcastle Local Court.
April 10 2018: The trial resumes and Wilson makes his fourth failed attempt to have the prosecution dismissed. He then takes the stand in his own defence.
April 13: The trial concludes.
April 17: The Advertiser reveals how one prosecution witness alleges he had been threatened with reprisals.
May 22: Magistrate Robert Stone convicts Wilson of concealing child sex abuse.
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