"You Never Forget the Moment You Find out Your Dad's a Paedophile': Hillsong's Brian Houston Tells of the "Devastating" 10 Seconds When He Realised His Father, Frank, Was a Paedophile

By Daniel Piotrowski
Daily Mail
October 9, 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2785983/You-never-forget-moment-dad-s-paedophile-Hillsong-s-Brian-Houston-tells-devastating-10-seconds-realised-father-Frank-paedophile.html

Brian Houston, the son of Hillsong founder Frank Houston, has told a hearing about the moment he found out his father was a paedophile.

Mr Houston, the church's senior pastor, first heard the allegations levelled by AHA - the name for the alleged victim - in late October 1999 during his weekly meeting with general manager George Aghajanian.

He said he did not immediately report the incident to the police as he did not want to 'pre-empt' the victim.

During the pivotal meeting, Mr Houston said he and Mr Aghajanian were discussing other matters until Mr Aghajanian said: 'I need to talk to you about something else.

'It's not about you, it's about your father.'

Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston, left, fronted the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse today. The witness AHA alleged to the hearing on Tuesday that when he was 7, that Frank Houston would come to his room, lie on him, fondle him and masturbate him.

Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston, left, fronted the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse today. The witness AHA alleged to the hearing on Tuesday that when he was 7, that Frank Houston would come to his room, lie on him, fondle him and masturbate him.

'You never forget the moment you find out your father is a paedophile': Brian Houston appeared at the Royal Commission in Sydney this week.

'It hit me in a ten second period, in a wave,' Mr Houston told the Commission.

Mr Houston said he could tell from the look on Mr Houston's face that it was not good news.

'It hit me in a ten second period, in a wave,' he said, telling the commission 'you never forget' the moment you find out your father is a paedophile.

He told the hearing he first he had to get his head around his father being a homosexual, before he realised Mr Aghanajanian was talking about paedophilia.

Mr Houston then cried and went home. 'I was devastated, to be honest with you,' he said. 'Totally devastated.'

On Tuesday, AHA told the commission Frank Houston would stay with his family when he came to Sydney from New Zealand in the 1970s.

AHA was seven when Frank Houston would come to his room, lie on him, fondle him and masturbate him, the alleged victim told the commission.

'I would wake up petrified and I would stay very still,' AHA said.

He said the abuse left him feeling ashamed, and he now suffered depression.

Mr Houston told the hearing that if AHA was under 18 - he was in his mid-30s at the time of the complaint - then he was 'absolutely certain' they would have gone to the police.

'Rightly or wrongly, I thought I would be preempting the victim if I were to have called the police at that point,' Mr Houston said.

Controversy: Brian Houston's Hillsong church is immensely popular.

Mr Houston is the senior pastor at the Hillsong Church, located in Sydney's north-western suburbs.

Brian Houston, pictured leaving the Royal Commission this week. His testimony will continue on Thursday afternoon.

Rules were set aside by the executive of the Pentecostal movement when it came to dealing with allegations against Frank Houston, the father of Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston, the national inquiry was told earlier on Thursday.

Keith Ainge, former national secretary of the Assemblies of God, an umbrella body for the Pentecostal churches, said that Brian Houston was the only conduit for information to the executive about allegations against his father.

The church elder told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that the first the national executive heard of allegations against Frank Houston was when his son Brian Houston called a special meeting of the executive on December 22, 1999.

Brian Houston was national president of the AoG. He had already suspended his father when he called the meeting.

Pastor Ainge on Thursday said that under AoG rules Frank Houston should have had his credentials withdrawn for abusing a child.

Instead the meeting on December 22 suspended them for two years and recommended that Frank Houston enter a restorative program.

In reply to questions from counsel assisting the commission Simeon Beckett, Pastor Ainge said he truthfully could not answer why the policy was not followed 'except to say that it was a new policy and not fully understood and the fact there was no formal complaint and the complainant did not give his name'.

Mr Beckett: 'according to Brian Houston?'

When asked about Brian Houston's conflict of interest and the executive's dependence on him to investigate his father and take action Pastor Ainge: 'Yes, we agree it was a difficult situation from that perspective ...'

Mr Beckett: You were relying on what Brian Houston said about the complainant not wanting it to go to the police; is that correct?

Pastor Ainge: 'Correct'.

Mr Beckett: And you had not had an independent person deal with the complainant?

Pastor Ainge: That's correct.

On Tuesday, AHA said his family was very involved in the church, and when he eventually told his mother in 1978 she told him he did not 'want to be responsible for turning people from the church and sending them to hell'.

He said the Houstons 'were considered to be almost like royalty' in the circles in which his parents moved.

The witness said when, in 1998, his mother told another church pastor of the abuse, Frank Houston apologised.

He was told if there were any problems to contact Frank or Brian Houston.

He said after two months he rang Brian and said: 'What is happening with the money I was promised? I agreed to forgive your father.'

AHA said Brian Houston said 'Yes, OK, I'll get the money for you. There's no problem. You know it's your fault all of this happened. You tempted my father'.

AHA said he replied: 'Why, did he molest you also?' He said Brian got very angry after that.

'He slammed the phone down with words to the effect 'You'll be getting money'.'

While acknowledging AHA's courage in appearing at the commission, Brian Houston rejected the claims that he accused him of tempting his father.

'I disagree with his perception of the phone call with me and I strongly refute that I - at any time - accused him of tempting my father. I would never say this and I do not believe this,' he said in a statement made outside the commission.

'At no stage did I attempt to hide or cover up the allegations against my father.'

The hearing is ongoing.