NEW YORK CITY (NY)
New York Times
July 2, 2018
By Adam Baidawi
Melbourne, Australia – The highest-ranking Catholic official to have been found guilty of concealing sexual crimes against children was sentenced to 12 months in detention by an Australian court on Tuesday.
The official, Philip Wilson, the archbishop of Adelaide, was sentenced a month after being found guilty of failing to report child sexual abuse. Archbishop Wilson is expected to serve his sentence under home detention, if a court agrees to the arrangement.
After his conviction, the archbishop gave up his duties but refused to resign. He was convicted of covering up abuse by a priest, Jim Fletcher, in the state of New South Wales in the 1970s.
“We have made history in Australia,” said Peter Gogarty, an abuse survivor, according to ABC News.
There were no immediate indications on Tuesday that the archbishop would resign. Bishop Greg O’Kelly, who was appointed to administer the Adelaide archdiocese after Archbishop Wilson gave up his duties, said in a statement that his role had not changed.
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