An Australian jury has convicted former Catholic bishop Christopher Saunders, 76, of 13 charges of sexual abuse involving two young Indigenous men. The District Court of Western Australia jury delivered its verdict on Thursday, finding Saunders guilty of offenses that allegedly occurred between 2008 and 2019.
Prosecutors alleged Saunders lured young Indigenous men to his church-owned house in Broome, a tourist town on the country’s tropical northwest coast, with free alcohol and cigarettes purchased with church funds. The house rules reportedly included that male-only guests had to remove their shirts. The prosecution stated that Saunders had a sexual interest in young Aboriginal men and acted on it when opportunities arose.
The convictions include one count of sexual penetration without consent and a dozen indecent assaults. Saunders was acquitted of six charges, including those involving a third alleged victim and indecent dealing with a child over 16. Charges of sexual penetration of a child younger than 13 were dismissed on the first day of the three-week trial.
Saunders' conviction marks him as one of the most senior Australian Catholics to be found guilty amid a global clergy abuse scandal. He is comparable to Cardinal George Pell and Archbishop Philip Wilson, though Pell and Wilson successfully appealed their convictions.
Saunders, who led the remote Broome Diocese from 1996 until his resignation in 2021, showed no immediate reaction to the verdicts. He had been free on bail since his charging two years ago but did not seek to remain on bail after the convictions. Sentencing is scheduled for September 21.
The defense had argued that while Saunders' behavior at parties might have been unusual, "boozy," and "sleazy," it was never sexual. Saunders resigned from his role following a police announcement that a criminal investigation into sexual allegations against him had been dropped. He had initially stood down from church governance a year prior after news media reported the allegations.
The Vatican initiated its own investigation into Saunders in 2022 and provided a report to the Western Australia Police Force the following year. This led to the reopening of the criminal investigation and Saunders' charging in 2024. Leaked information from the Vatican report suggested Saunders may have sexually assaulted four Indigenous youths and potentially groomed another 67.
In a statement, the current Bishop of Broome, Tim Norton, apologized to Saunders' victims and the diocese, acknowledging the widespread hurt caused by the "betrayal" and the impact on those who had placed trust in the church's leadership.
A national inquiry into institutional responses to child abuse in Australia previously found that approximately 7% of Australian Catholic priests were accused of sexually abusing children between 1950 and 2010.