Australian Bishop Sentenced for Abusing Indigenous Men

Former Australian Catholic bishop Christopher Saunders, 76, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for sexually abusing two young Indigenous men. The offenses occurred between 2008 and 2019 in his sprawling Broome Diocese on Australia's tropical northwest coast.

The District Court of Western Australia convicted Saunders in August of 13 out of 19 charges, including one count of sexual penetration without consent and a dozen unlawful and indecent assault charges. According to multiple reports, prosecutors alleged that Saunders lured young Indigenous men to his church-owned house with alcohol and cigarettes paid for with church funds.

Saunders will be eligible for parole in February 2031. He was acquitted of six charges involving a third accuser and had four charges dropped during the trial due to lack of evidence. The sentence was backdated to August when Saunders was convicted and taken into custody, as reported by multiple sources.

Saunders is one of the most senior Australian Catholics to be convicted in a global clergy abuse scandal that has faced the Vatican for years. Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, issued a statement apologizing for the pain and suffering Saunders inflicted on victims, saying their trust had been 'profoundly betrayed by a leader of the Church.'

The Vatican began investigating Saunders in 2022 and handed its findings to Western Australia Police Force the following year. While the report was never officially made public, it was leaked to Australia’s Seven Network television news, which reported that Saunders likely sexually assaulted four Indigenous youths and potentially groomed another 67 Indigenous youths and men.