Brian Houston: Sydney court acquits Hillsong church founder for hiding father's child sex crimes
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On Thursday, the Downing Centre Local and District Court pardoned Houston, 69, by saying that he agreed to the wishes of his father's victim Brett Sengstock by not reporting the crimes to the cops.
A court in Sydney, Australia, acquitted Brian Houston, the founder of global megachurch Hillsong, of hiding sexual abuse committed by his father, former pastor Frank Houston, in the 1970s.
On Thursday, the Downing Centre Local and District Court pardoned Houston, 69, by saying that he agreed to the wishes of his father's victim Brett Sengstock by not reporting the crimes to the cops. The court acquitted him of concealing an indictable offence.
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Houston told reporters outside the court that he will always be sad for the people whose lives were tragically hurt. "But I am not my father. I did not commit this offence," he added.
Gareth Christofi, the magistrate, said there was "little doubt" Houston knew Sengstock did not want to report the abuse. "Therefore, he had a valid excuse for not bringing the matter to the attention of the police," said Christofi.
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Meanwhile, the victim, Sengstock, who rejected his right to anonymity, was in the court during the hearing.
Previously, he told the court that from the age of seven, Brian Houston's father, Frank Houston, who was a pastor, repeatedly raped him. After the verdict, Sengstock said, "Frank Houston was no pioneer for Christianity. His legacy remains a faded memory of a paedophile. Regardless of today's outcome, I have received a life sentence."
Brian came to know about the abuse decades later. He informed the Church leaders about it. However, he did not tell the police.
Frank Houston admitted his crime. Although the church defrocked him, he was never charged and died in 2004.
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Frank Houston confessed to his son about his crimes in 1999. Brian maintained in court that he did not report his father's crimes because when he found out, Sengstock was an adult and did not want the police involved.
In 2022, when Brian was accused of concealing the crime from the police, he told Sydney's Downing Centre local, "I have no doubt now my father was a serial paedophile, and we'll probably never know the extent of it." Frank Houston admitted he sexually abused children to other executives in Australia's Pentecostal church network.
(With inputs from agencies)
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