Church leader admits he was wrong not to report paedophile dad

TVNZ
October 13, 2014

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/church-leader-admits-he-wrong-not-report-paedophile-dad-6105264

Hillsong church boss Brian Houston.

The leader of the Hillsong Church has broken his silence on his paedophile father, addressing his 3000 strong congregation in New South Wales.

Brian Houston told his followers it was wrong of him not to report his father to police, but said other church leaders also knew and did nothing.

Giving his first sermon since testifying last week at the Australian Royal Commission on Child Sexual Abuse, Mr Houston said no-one told him to report his father.

"You had a situation where this was the first time I had ever heard about my father's abuses. There was a victim, a survivor, who was adamant he did not want a police investigation and he didn't want a church investigation," he said.

Mr Houston was told in 1999 that his pastor father Frank had molested a boy in a Sydney household in the 1970's.

His late father reportedly tried to buy forgiveness from the victim known as AHA for $10,000.

"So I genuinely believed at the time, by the way no-one gave me any advice to counter this, that if he wanted to go the police, he was 36, he could. Obviously if it was someone who was still a child we would have had no choice but to report it. It seems I was wrong and that will form part of the findings."

The commission had heard Hillsong founder Brian Houston was in charge when his father was outed as a serial paedophile.

It also heard the episodes of sexual abuse of seven boys by Frank Houston happened in the 1960s and 70s. All but one, AHA, were abused in New Zealand where Frank Houston preached.

Frank Houston died in 2004.