Archbishop Philip Wilson: More Than 40 Witnesses Named in Brief of Evidence

By Gabriel Wingate-pearse
Newcastle Herald
June 17, 2015

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3152317/2000-page-brief-of-evidence-against-archbishop-wilson/

Archbishop Philip Wilson. Pic: Darrian Traynor/Fairfax Media via Getty Images

THERE are more than 40 witnesses named in a brief of evidence against former Hunter priest, Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, who is accused of concealing child sex abuse in the Catholic church.

The brief is more than 2000 pages long, Magistrate John Chicken was told in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday.

Archbishop Wilson was not in court, having been excused if legally represented.

Magistrate Chicken asked Mr Wilson's barrister, Simon Buchen, if the list of 40 witnesses could be 'whittled down'.

"Yes, we hope to whittle it down significantly," Mr Buchen said.

Both the prosecution and defence counsel agreed to a five-week adjournment to consider the brief and a reply.

The matter was scheduled for another mention on July 22 and Mr Wilson was again excused from attending on that occasion.

Archbishop Wilson is the most senior Catholic clergyman in the world to be charged with concealing a child sex abuse allegation against another priest.

He was charged on March 17 with one count of concealing a child sex allegation made against the late Hunter priest Jim Fletcher in the 1970s.

See your ad here

That came nearly nine months after the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry recommended the charge.

Police are alleging that the archbishop knew for two years, between April, 2004, and July, 2006, that Fletcher had abused a 10-year-old boy but failed to notify police.

The archbishop had been a junior priest at East Maitland and worked with Fletcher in the 1970s.

On the last occasion Mr Buchen indicated that his client would defend the charges and would be pleading not guilty.

The archbishop is one of only a small number of Catholic clergymen in the world to be charged with concealing a child sex allegation against another priest, and only the third in Australia after the late Toronto priest Tom Brennan became the first to face such a charge in 2012.