Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Pleads Not Guilty to Concealing Child Abuse

By Dan Box
The Australian
May 7, 2015

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The Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, did not appear in court this morning to face a charge of concealing child abuse committed by another priest.

His lawyer, Simon Buchen, said the archbishop is pleading not guilty to the alleged offence and hopes to apply for the case to be moved from the court in Newcastle, in the NSW Hunter Valley, to Sydney.

“There is a plea and I enter the plea of not guilty,” Mr Buchen told the court.

Today’s hearing was the first time the matter has been heard in court since Archbishop Wilson was charged in March this year. He is the most senior Catholic official worldwide to be charged for concealing child abuse.

Court documents show the alleged abuse of a 10-year-old boy was committed by a Hunter Valley priest, James Patrick Fletcher, in 1971. Archbishop Wilson has been charged with concealing the abuse between 2004 and 2006, when he was serving as the Archbishop of Adelaide.