Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson should not be jailed for failing to report instances of child sexual abuse within the church because he is old and unwell, his lawyer argued at his sentence hearing in New South Wales on Tuesday.
Wilson, who is the most senior member of the Catholic Church to be convicted of concealing child sex crimes, will be sentenced on July 3. However, according to an AAP report published on Yahoo 7, his legal team argued his ailing health and ongoing medical issues should be taken into account for his sentencing.
The clergyman was found guilty in May of failing to report the abuse of two alter boys in the 1970s. Pedophile priest James Fletcher assaulted Peter Creigh (also known as Peter Gogarty) when he was 15 years old and when Creigh reported the abuse to Wilson, he did nothing.
While Fletcher was convicted of his crimes and sentenced to prison in 2004, where he died of a stroke in 2006, Wilson walked free until now, claiming he cannot remember Creigh telling him about the abuse.
Defence barrister Ian Temby QC told the court on Tuesday that the archbishop’s health conditions were too serious for him to spend time in prison and that he was in fact a “good man”.
Wilson’s legal team also argued that a good behaviour bond would be a better option.
Wilson suffers from diabetes, heart and Alzheimer’s disease and depression, which would further deteriorate behind bars and “may even threaten his survival”, Temby said.
“The offender is not just a man who has no prior convictions but is, in fact, a man of prior positive good character with particular reference to the general field of prevention of child sexual abuse.”
However, he was rebuffed by prosecutor Gareth Harrison, who spoke of Wilson’s decision to choose the church over the victim’s safety, claiming the 67-year-old should be locked up as a message to other religious leaders.
“He thought he’d gotten away with this for all those years,” he said.
“He lied and the root of each of those lies is the unflinching loyalty to the Catholic church and protecting it at all costs.”
Wilson is due to be sentenced on July 3 and faces a maximum two years in prison.
Wilson’s claims during his trial that he could not remember Creigh’s allegations were rejected by Magistrate Robert Stone, who said it was “incomprehensible” that Wilson didn’t remember his conversation with Creigh.
He added: “Any allegation perpetrated on young boys by someone you have lived with is going to remain with you, no matter how long.”