Berlin, Oct 7. (dpa/GNA) – Former Australian bishop Christopher Saunders, once one of the country’s most senior Catholic clergymen, has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting two young Indigenous men.
Australian media reported that a court in the state of Western Australia, handed down the sentence to the 76-year-old on Wednesday. Saunders will not be eligible for parole until 2031 at the earliest.
In August, an Australian court found Saunders guilty of one count of sexual penetration without consent, and several counts of indecent assault, and he has been in custody ever since.
He reportedly showed no reaction during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing. The offences took place between 2010 and 2019, when he was bishop of Broome, a remote diocese in north-western Australia.
After his ordination as a priest, Saunders initially worked at mission stations in outback regions from the 1970s onwards.
In the 1990s, he was appointed bishop of Broome by pope John Paul II.
Following the abuse allegations, Saunders suspended his duties in 2020. In August 2021, pope Francis accepted his resignation. The clergyman consistently denied the allegations.
It was reportedly revealed in court that the bishop had groomed his victims. He is said to have regularly invited young Indigenous men and teenagers to a beach house or a Catholic Church residence, providing them with alcohol and cigarettes, and giving them money and mobile phones.
The assaults on the two young men reportedly took place whilst they were heavily intoxicated.
In a statement, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ACBC), apologized for the pain and suffering inflicted on Saunders’ victims.
GNA