Hillsong Founder Says He Did Not Contact Police over Paedophilia Allegations against Father

By Rachel Browne
Sydney Morning Herald
October 9, 2014

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hillsong-founder-says-he-did-not-contact-police-over-paedophilia-allegations-against-father-20141009-113le2.html

"I will never forget that day": Brian Houston arrives at the royal commission. Photo: Daniel Munoz

ied in 2004: Frank Houston.

The founder of Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, said he knew paedophilia amounted to criminal conduct but did not contact police when he was informed of allegations that his father, Frank Houston, molested a young boy, a royal commission has heard.

Giving evidence before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Brian Houston told of his horror at hearing the sexual abuse claims.

The general manager of Hillsong, George Aghajanian, told him in a meeting in October 1999 that Frank Houston had been accused of abusing a young boy.

"I will never forget that day," he said. "It was a devastating day ... my stomach dropped."

He told the commission that he went home and cried. He did not immediately put the claims to his father, who was overseas for three weeks.

When asked by counsel assisting Simeon Beckett why he did not contact police even though he knew child sexual abuse was a criminal offence, Mr Houston said he thought alerting the authorities would constitute "pre-empting the victim".

The victim, given the pseudonym AHA, previously told the royal commission that Frank Houston molested him on a number of occasions over a period of years from the late 1960s.

AHA, who was seven when alleged abuse started, told his mother about the abuse in 1978 but it was not until 1998 that she told a church pastor and the allegations became more widely known, the commission has previously heard.

Becoming emotional on the stand, Mr Houston said his father confessed to committing the abuse .

"He told me it was a one-off occasion," he said. "He did say as far as sexual abuse goes it was the lighter side."

He told the royal commission that when he became aware of the allegations in October 1999, the matter was referred to the national executive rather than the state executive of the Assemblies of God, due to its seriousness.

At the time, Brian Houston was the national president of the Assemblies of God, now known as Australian Christian Churches, but he denied that his involvement in his father's disciplinary process was a conflict of interest.

Mr Houston told the commission that two payments of $2000 and $10,000 were not "hush money" for AHA, saying he was free to report the matter to the police.

He also denied telling AHA that he "tempted" Frank Houston into abusing him.

"My father did some very evil things, but there is no way he tried to blame the boy," he said.

Mr Houston told the commission he was later informed by the Assemblies of God in New Zealand that a number of sex abuse allegations dating back to the 1960s had been made against Frank Houston.

Frank Houston died in 2004, with Brian Houston telling the commission he was tormented by his crimes.

"He was beating himself up for the last five years of his life over the things that he did," he said.

The public hearing is examining the response of Australian Christian Churches and affiliated Pentecostal churches to allegations of child sexual abuse.

The hearing, before Justice Jennifer Coate, is expected to continue until October 17.