Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston was acquitted by an Australian court on Thursday of concealing his late father’s child sex abuse.with concealing a serious indictable offence for not reporting to the police about Frank Houston’s abuse of Mr Brett Sengstock, now 61.Frank Houston, in 1999, confessed to his son that he had repeatedly sexually assaulted Brett Sengstock, when the latter was seven years old and a member of the church where Frank Houston preached.
During the trial Mr Brian Houston, who had learnt about other instances of abuse by his father, said: “I have no doubt now that my father was a serial paedophile, and we’ll probably never know the extent of it.” But, in his ruling, magistrate Gareth Christofi told Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Thursday: “There is little doubt in my mind that the accused knew Mr Sengstock did not want the matter reported to police.Mr Houston’s failure to report his father’s offending to the police was not out of respect for Mr Sengstock’s wishes; it was rather the outcome of his desire to protect his family and the church’s reputation, said the prosecutors.
Speaking outside the courts, Mr Houston said his father was “a serial paedophile” who caused immense damage to the children he preyed upon. Saying that he felt a sense of “relief that the truth had come out”, Mr Houston alleged that the prosecution had been spurred by animosity towards him and the church.
“Frank Houston was no pioneer for Christianity. His legacy remains a faded memory of a paedophile,” said Mr Sengstock.
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