Former Australian Catholic bishop sentenced for abusing Indigenous men
A former Australian Catholic bishop, Christopher Saunders, has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison for sexually abusing two young Indigenous men in the 2008-2019 period. The District Court of Western Australia convicted Saunders of 13 out of 19 charges, and he is eligible for parole in February 2031. Saunders was acquitted of six charges involving a third accuser and four charges involving a child younger than 13, which were dropped on the first day of his three-week trial.
The Outback diocese he oversaw covers an area larger than France with only 50,000 people, most of whom are Indigenous. The sentence acknowledges the gravity and serious nature of Saunders' offenses and the profound impact on the victims.
Brief written by urgent.news from Winnipeg Free Press's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
