Brian Houston.Photo:BIANCA DE MARCHI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
BIANCA DE MARCHI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Hillsong ChurchfounderBrian Houstonhas been found not guilty of concealing his father’s sex offenses.
On Thursday, an Australian court ruled Houston, 69, was not guilty ofcovering up child sex abuse allegations against his father,late preacher Frank Houston, according toNBC News.
Brian Houston, who was the Sydney-based church’s senior global pastor, was charged in 2021 withconcealing child sex offensesand stepped down from his role months later.
At the time, police said in a statement to PEOPLE that, “Police will allege in court [Houston] knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police.”
However, per theAssociated Press, Sydney Magistrate Gareth Christofi ruled on Thursday that Houston had a reasonable excuse for not reporting his father — who died in 2004 without being charged — to the police. Christofi accepted that Houston believed that victim Brett Sengstock did not want the abuse reported to the police.
Sengstock, who waived his right to anonymity, testified in the trial that he never told Houston not to report the abuse, which happened in the 1970s.
Frank Houston.Alexander James Towle/Fairfax Media/Getty
In 2015,Australian officials contended that Hillsong leaders became aware of the allegations against Frank Houston in 1999, but did not share that information with police.
Houston’s father confessed to the abuse allegations prior to his death at the age of 82. He is believed to have abused as many as nine boys while in his position as pastor, according to theBBC.
Sengstock told reporters outside court on Thursday that the verdict blamed him for the church’s failure to report Frank Houston.
“Frank Houston was no pioneer for Christianity. His legacy remains a faded memory of a pedophile,” Sengstock said according to AP.
“Regardless of today’s outcome, I have received a life sentence. Blaming the victim is as repulsive as the assaults themselves,” he added.
Also speaking outside court, Brian Houton said, “I want to express my sadness to Brett Sengstock, genuine sadness about what my father did to him and all his victims. He was obviously a serial pedophile. We probably will never know the extent of his pedophilia.”
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“A lot of people’s lives have been tragically hurt and for that I’ll always be very sad. But I’m not my father,” he added.
In aprevious statementto the AP in 2021, Brian Houston said the “charges have come as a shock to me.” “I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight,” he added.
PEOPLE previously confirmed that Australian authorities began investigating the Hillsong founder in 2019. He confirmed he was stepping down from his position on the board in September 2021 ahead of his trial, which began in December 2022.
For several years, Hillsong Church services hostedmany celebrities, includingHaileyandJustin Bieber,Selena Gomez,Nick Jonas,Vanessa Hudgens,Austin Butler,Chris Pratt,Katherine Schwarzenegger,Kourtney KardashianandKendallandKylie Jenner.
source: people.com
