EX-BISHOP CHRISTOPHER SAUNDERS JAILED FOR ABUSING ABORIGINAL MEN

Christopher Alan Saunders, the former Catholic Bishop of Broome, has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison for sexually abusing two young Aboriginal men. The West Australian district court jury convicted Saunders in August of one count of sexual penetration without consent and 12 counts of indecent assault, following a trial over offending that prosecutors said took place between 2008 and 2019. He was acquitted of several other charges, including offences allegedly committed against a third young man. Judge Martin Flynn told the court Saunders had disregarded the dignity of his victims and caused them lasting harm. Reports differ on when Saunders will be eligible for parole, with one account citing four and a half years served and another specifying February 2031.

Saunders was ordained in 1976 and became Bishop of Broome in 1996, a diocese covering a remote area of north-western Australia of roughly 770,000 square kilometres. Prosecutors said he hosted alcohol-fuelled gatherings, including "shirts-off" parties, at church-owned properties, using church funds to gain access to young Aboriginal men before assaulting them. One victim, in an impact statement read to the court, said he had been treated "like a toy" and described ongoing distress. Saunders resigned as bishop in 2020 after the allegations became public, and Pope Francis accepted his resignation the following year.

Barring a successful appeal, Saunders is reported to be among the most senior Catholic clergy in Australia, and globally, convicted of sexual abuse committed while in office. The Archbishop of Perth, Timothy Costelloe, said in a statement that the men who came forward had shown courage and resilience in pursuing justice, and apologised for the pain and suffering inflicted on them. A church investigation into Saunders, suspended during the police inquiry and criminal trial, is set to resume now proceedings have concluded, with its findings expected to inform decisions in Rome regarding his position within the church.