Hillsong Church back in court for sex assault

Australian arm of Hillsong Church set to defend itself in the NSW Supreme Court over the sexual assault of a teen ­parishioner by a married staffer.

Former Hillsong member Anna Crenshaw. Picture: Instagram

The Australian arm of Hillsong Church is set to defend itself in the NSW Supreme Court next week over the sexual assault of a teenage ­parishioner by a married staffer of the church.

The landmark civil case – believed to be the first time Hillsong Church will be on trial in Australia – will be heard before a justice for a five-day hearing following the ­sexual assault of Anna Crenshaw in 2016, who was assaulted by a staffer of the church when she was just 18.

Ms Crenshaw had been invited to a social gathering where one of the other guests was Hillsong worker Jason Mays. “He put his hands all around my crotch, my butt, in between my legs,” Ms Crenshaw said.

“He lifted up my shirt a bit and started kissing my stomach.”

In court documents, Hillsong has strenuously denied the assault was sexual in nature and that it was negligent towards Ms Crenshaw.

Ms Crenshaw says she told the church about the assault in 2018 but was made to feel she was at fault for raising it.

On Thursday, she told The Australian she had been left in fear and could not trust strangers following her experience at the church, and wants the mega-church to take “accountability for the harm they have caused”.

Her attacker, married father Jason Mays, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting Ms Crenshaw at Penrith Local Court in 2020 and was sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond. The then global head of Hillsong, Brian Houston, launched a defence of Mays. “One thing I do know is we’re not talking about a sexual predator here,” he said on stage.

Anna's attacker Jason Mays with Brian Houston. Picture: Instagram

“The way Hillsong and Brian Houston chose to defend Jason has left more of a harmful impact than the assault itself, which is often the case with institutional betrayal,” Ms Crenshaw said.

Since her attack, Ms Crenshaw claims Hillsong protected Mays and failed to dismiss him. Hillsong released a statement that said other recollections of the incident “did not fully corroborate (Ms Crenshaw’s) version of events”.

“The ones meant to protect me stood on the side of the offender,” Ms Crenshaw told The Australian on Thursday.

“My experience inside Hillsong only turned bad once I reported the sexual assault. All was fine as long as I was silent. Once I spoke up … I felt ostracised and alone,” Ms Crenshaw said.

Dr Judy Courtin, who is representing Ms Crenshaw, said the controversial church had been “digging its heels in” during the years following her assault and refused to compensate her for her suffering, at the same time then Hillsong chief Brian Houston was flying around in private jets and staying in luxury ­hotels on the church dime.

“Brian Houston, the now disgraced and former leader of Hillsong church, greedily squirrelled away and spent his parishioners’ money to indulge in luxury goods for himself and his family,” Dr Courtin said. “Hillsong, having pledged reform and ameliorated ethics and integrity, is instead excelling at duplicity and malice.

“Hillsong is spending up big to make sure the black letter of the law is fully manipulated to intimidate and crush our client. Our client was sexually abused by a member of Hillsong. He was convicted,” she said.

Brian Houston’s father Frank Houston, who died in 2004, has been accused of sexually abusing as many as nine children in Australia and New Zealand, with police alleging his son was aware of information relating to one victim but did not bring the matter to the attention of police. Last year, he was found not guilty of concealing his father’s child sex crimes.

Ms Crenshaw believes there is an “extremely low” likelihood of a culture change within Hillsong.

“I still believe it’s never too late to take real accountability and change. At this point, regardless of a legal win or a loss, so many survivors of sexual assault or other abuse within Hillsong have found their voice, including myself, and that for me is a massive win.”