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Child Abuse The Australian Archbishop Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison
| Duration: 2 minutes
Archbishop Wilson is the highest ranked Catholic cleric in the world, accused of hiding children
Source: AP / Darren Pateman
In the 1970s, Philip Wilson , bishop of the child abuse of Adelaide by a priest colleague covered. Now, an Australian court has sentenced him to one year in prison. A judgment with signal effect.
D he was found guilty of concealing child abuse. Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson was sentenced to 12 months in jail. A court in Newcastle, New South Wales, announced the sentence on Tuesday. The sentence could be used to the 67-year-old man, who was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, under house arrest. A decision on this matter must be made on August 14th.
The Newcastle court found the archbishop of Adelaide guilty of concealing the abuse of two altars by the late pedophile Jim Fletcher in the 1970s. Wilson had threatened with a death penalty. maximum sentence of two years imprisonment. He was only allowed to apply for parole after six months, he said. The clergyman rejected the allegations
The archbishop of Adelaide is the highest religious cleric in the world accused of hiding pedophilia. In front of the courthouse, victims of abuse protested against the church and demanded Wilson 's resignation. After the May guilty verdict, the Archbishop had announced that he would leave his office for the time being, but that he did not finally want to resign.
Debate on Denominational Secrecy
The decision may be seen as an additional step in the global effort to hold the Catholic Church accountable for child abuse crimes. Pope Francis is involved in the crisis because allegations have also been made against his chief financial advisor, Cardinal George Pell, also Australian. Lawyers in Australia are now expecting much more lawsuits against clergymen following Wilson's verdict
Attorney Gareth Harrison said last month that Wilson's punishment was necessary to send a message that institutional cover-ups would no longer be tolerated. However, the Archbishop's defense argued that "due to several chronic diseases, Wilson might not survive the imprisonment."
Especially in Australia, allegations of alleged perpetrators in a confession are debated. While priests who learn in the confessional of pedophilia insist on not disclosing this, the judiciary intends to act against him. A commission recommended to the Australian authorities in December to prosecute the clergy if they did not send them the relevant clues.
In this particular case, however, Wilson did not dispute confessional confessions. On the contrary, he stated that he could not remember that the servants had never told him about the alleged abuse.
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