SA archbishop to fight concealment charge

By Sam Mckeith And Megan Neil
7 News
March 17, 2015

https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/26691564/archbishop-hid-child-sex-abuse/

Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson.

The Catholic archbishop of Adelaide will fight an allegation he concealed child sexual abuse by a priest, a charge a victims' group says is unlikely to be the last faced by a senior church official.

Philip Wilson is believed to be the most senior Catholic official in the world to face charges of this nature.

NSW police allege Wilson concealed a serious offence regarding child sexual abuse in the state's Hunter region.

The abuse was allegedly committed during the 1970s by another priest, when both men worked in the Maitland Diocese, near Newcastle.

Wilson said he was disappointed police had decided to charge him and would vigorously defend his innocence.

"The suggestion appears to be that I failed to bring to the attention of police a conversation I am alleged to have had in 1976, when I was a junior priest, that a now deceased priest had abused a child," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

"From the time this was first brought to my attention last year, I have completely denied the allegation."

Wilson appeared in 2013 at a special commission of inquiry into how police and church officials handled allegations of abuse by Hunter Valley priests, particularly serial sex offender Father Denis McAlinden and convicted pedophile Father James Fletcher. Both are now dead.

Wilson, 64, could face up to two years behind bars if convicted.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) spokesman Mark Fabbro said it was positive to see the police move against such a senior church official.

"Survivors had been wondering why it had taken so long for a senior prelate to be brought to justice," Mr Fabbro told AAP.

"There is evidence also implicating other individuals who have obviously from the evidence not reported crimes to the police and not pursued the perpetrators to ensure that they were accountable to the Australian public.

"It appears from the evidence that we've gained that the senior prelates in the Catholic Church persisted in the movement of ... criminals away from police authorities."

The charge follows an investigation by Strike Force Lantle, which since 2010 has probed allegations of concealment of child abuse by former and current clergy attached to the Catholic Church's Maitland-Newcastle Diocese.

Wilson said his efforts on the issue of child sexual abuse have been widely acknowledged.

"I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm my commitment to dealing proactively with the issue of child sexual abuse and the implementation of best-practice child protection measures which I have pioneered since becoming a bishop.

"I would again like to express my deep sorrow for the devastating impact of clerical sex abuse on victims and their families, and I give an assurance that despite this charge, I will continue to do what I can to protect the children in our care in the Archdiocese of Adelaide."

The archbishop has taken immediate leave and retained Ian Temby QC, one of Australia's top barristers and the first Commonwealth director of public prosecutions, to represent him.

Wilson has been issued with a notice to appear in the Newcastle Local Court on April 30 on the charge of concealing a serious offence.