Victim Welcomes Decision Archbishop Philip Wilson Will Face Charge of Concealing Child Sex Abuse
By Dan Cox
A Hunter Valley child sexual abuse victim is urging anyone who suspects a crime has been committed to contact police. Peter Gogarty said he was relieved Adelaide's Archbishop Philip Wilson will have to defend a charge of concealing child sexual abuse. Wilson's application was yesterday denied by magistrate Robert Stone, who said "elements of the offence may be able to be proved". During the hearing, the court was told the charge against Wilson was invalid as there was no evidence the offence he is accused of concealing ever happened. The concealment charge relates to abuse in the 1970s by the now-dead paedophile priest James Fletcher. Peter Gogarty says he is one of Fletcher's victims, and welcomes the decision. "What's really important about this is that these allegations are aired in public, and that the Archbishop gives an account of himself in public, so I'm really pleased," she said. Mr Fogarty said the allegations against Wilson must be aired in public. "The basic point is that if you're a person, any person, a responsible adult in this country, and you suspect that a crime has been committed then you need to say something," he said. "The prosecution case seems to clearly be that from at least 2004, Archbishop Wilson should have known that Jim Fletcher had been committing crimes, and it was then his duty to talk to police." Wilson is the most senior Catholic official in the world to be charged with concealing child sexual abuse. The matter returns to court on March 4.
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