Former bishop Christopher Saunders has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for sexually abusing two young Aboriginal men while serving in the remote Kimberley region.
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Saunders → sentence → region
Saunders, 76, was convicted in August on one charge of rape and 12 counts of indecent assault.
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Saunders → convict → assault
He was accused of offences against three men, but was acquitted of charges relating to one of them.
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He → accuse → them
Saunders was ordained a priest in 1976 and became Bishop of Broome in 1996.
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Saunders → ordain → 1996
He held the position until 2020, when he resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged.
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allegations → hold → misconduct
The Diocese of Broome covers an area roughly the size of Turkey and is home to some of Australia’s most remote communities.
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Diocese → cover → communities
Indigenous people account for more than 40 per cent of the population of Kimberley in Western Australia.
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people → account → Australia
Saunders committed the offences against the two men between 2010 and 2019 at several locations, including a church-owned residence in Broome and a retreat known as the “beach house”.
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Saunders → commit → house
Saunders cultivated relationships with young men and invited them to gatherings where they were encouraged to remove their shirts as he supplied them with food and alcohol, the court heard.
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court → cultivate → food
Prosecutors said that Saunders used his feet to touch young men sexually, kissed them on their lips, grabbed their “privates” and, in one instance, forced oral sex on one of the victims.
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Saunders → say → victims
Judge Martin Flynn said Saunders had “disregarded the dignity” of his victims and their right to freely decide “what they do with their body”.
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they → say → body
One of the victims, who was abused over several years, described the lasting impact of the offences.
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who → abuse → offences
“I was a toy he was using,” he said in a statement to the court.
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he → use → court
“My head is pounding now, I am in so much pain.
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I → pound → pain
I can’t talk about it.
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I → talk → it
I couldn’t tell anybody I was ashamed of myself.
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I → tell → myself
I’m still ashamed of myself.
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I → ’m → myself
I want to move on but I can’t move on because it doesn’t leave my head.”
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it → want → head
The judge considered character references submitted on Saunders’s behalf, including from people who said his offending was “not in character”, but found they didn’t know Saunders well enough and gave no weight to their evidence, according to the ABC.
On the other hand, at least two witnesses at the trial urged the Vatican to revoke his title as bishop emeritus.
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witnesses → consider → emeritus
Saunders didn’t give evidence in his defence during the trial, meaning jurors heard his denials only through recordings of police interviews.
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jurors → give → interviews
Saunders is among the most senior Catholic officials in Australia to face criminal charges for sexual abuse.
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Saunders → face → abuse
The late Cardinal George Pell, convicted and jailed before being acquitted, remains the most senior Australian Catholic figure to have faced such charges.
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Pell → convict → charges
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, apologised for “the pain and suffering that was inflicted” on the victims.
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that → apologise → victims
“We are sorry that your trust was so directly and profoundly betrayed by a leader of the Church,” he said in a statement.
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he → betray → statement
He added that the organisation would redouble efforts at “safeguarding, accountability and transparency”.
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organisation → add → safeguarding
New Broome Bishop Tim Norton said “the sentence cannot heal the damage done”.
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sentence → say → damage
Private investigator Tim Murray, hired by the Vatican when the allegations against Saunders came to light, told The Sydney Morning Herald: “I just hope the young Indigenous people in the Kimberley can start to heal.
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people → hire → Kimberley
I really think it’s a good day for Western Australia as it’s very hard to bring such a powerful man down.
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it → think → man
Who knows what damage has already been done to these young people.”
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damage → know → people
The Aporia
