AUSTRALIA
The Guardian
David Marr
Friday 9 June 2017
Philip Wilson, archbishop of Adelaide, is preparing to step aside from his duties after the New South Wales court of appeal unanimously dismissed his latest attempt to have a charge of failing to report child abuse quashed.
A spokeswoman for archbishop told Guardian Australia. “Now that there has been clarification on some of the points of law which arise, the archbishop is keen to move onto the trial preparation phase and will take time away from his duties when the trial approaches so that he can prepare his defence and demonstrate his innocence.”
Wilson is the most senior Catholic in the world to be charged with failing to report child sex abuse. He stood aside in March 2015 after a magistrate held he had to stand trial but resumed duties in Adelaide early last year as his legal team continued to fight through the courts.
The archbishop has now failed at every hurdle. The magistrate, a supreme court judge and now three members of the court of appeal – including the chief justice of NSW Tom Bathurst QC – have all found that the archbishop must stand trial.
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