Australia’s most senior Catholic convicted of sexual abuse jailed for more than six years

The former Bishop of Broome has been jailed for six years and six months after he was found to have sexually abused two Aboriginal men.

Christopher Alan Saunders, 76, appeared in WA District Court on Wednesday after he was found guilty by a jury on 13 charges including unlawful and indecent assault and penetration without consent in August.

The trial, which ran for three weeks, found Saunders had committed the offences against the men, who were devout Catholics and lived in the Kimberley diocese where he was the most senior Catholic in the northern WA district.

The jury found Saunders had engaged in systemic grooming of the two victims, including instances where he would use church funds and church-owned properties to host alcohol-fuelled “shirts-off” parties.

During sentencing on Wednesday, District Court Judge Martin Flynn said Saunders would be eligible for parole, and his sentence would be backdated to August 12.

Prosecutor Adam Ebell previously told the court Saunders had used his seniority as a bishop in the community to manipulate the men, and they had come to know him as “Brother B”.

Ebell said Saunders frequently gave the men money, cigarettes and alcohol and would use wrestling and boxing as a way to get closer to them.

Meanwhile, defence lawyer Tony Hager said while Saunders accepted the jury’s verdict, he would maintain his innocence.

Hager said it was important to consider the bishop had no prior record and had done “good work” in the name of the Catholic Church.

It was a characterisation disputed by Flynn at a previous sentencing hearing.

“One of the reasons given for his good character [in a letter provided to the court] is he gives paid work to young Aboriginal men,” Flynn said.

He said while this was true, one of Saunders’ victims had been one of the Aboriginal men he had paid to work for him.

Now criminal proceedings are formally completed, the Vatican will be able to restart its own Vos Estis Lux Mundi investigation into the bishop’s conduct.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB released a statement when Saunders was found guilty in August, and said protocol would be followed.

“With the conclusion of the trial the Church’s investigation can now recommence,” he said at the time.

“Decisions about the position of the former bishop of Broome in the Church will therefore be determined by Rome.

“At the local level practical decisions about future financial and other support will be made by the Broome Diocese and informed by the outcome of the proceedings in Rome.

“Given the many failures of leaders and other members of the Church in the past, and tragically as we now realise still today, it is important that the Church continue to follow clear protocols.”

At least two witnesses in the trial have called on the Vatican to defrock Saunders, and strip him of his title as emeritus bishop.

Saunders was also ordered to leave the Kimberley diocese in 2022, when the Vatican commenced an investigation into allegations about his conduct while running the administration of the parish.

In a letter sent to church members at the time, Bishop Michael Morrissey – who also gave evidence at the trial – confirmed Saunders had been asked to leave his church-owned property on Piggott Way in Broome’s town centre.

“The Holy See has also authorised Archbishop Coleridge to issue a decree stipulating that Bishop Saunders is to reside outside the diocese of Broome for the duration of the investigation,” the letter said.

It is unclear if the decree still stands.

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