AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Giselle Wakatama
Adelaide’s Catholic Archbishop Philip Wilson paid off an abuse victim, demonstrating a tendency of trying to make abuse matters go away, Newcastle Local Court has heard.
The court has begun hearing a stay of proceedings application by Wilson, the most senior Catholic clergyman in the world charged with concealing child sexual abuse.
The court was told the child sexual abuse cover-up charge laid against Wilson was invalid as there was no evidence the offence he is accused of concealing ever happened.
Wilson has pleaded not guilty to concealing the serious indictable offence of the now-dead paedophile priest James Fletcher in the 1970s.
The crown asked to admit tendency evidence in a bid to show Wilson’s alleged actions were not isolated.
Prosecutor Gareth Harrison alleged Wilson was involved in paying a woman an amount of money so an allegation of indecent assault would go away.
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