Australian bishop pleads guilty to firearm-related charges
Bishop Christopher Saunders also faces sexual abuse and assault charges.
A former bishop of the Diocese of Broome, Australia, who faces sexual abuse and assault charges, pleaded guilty on Monday to seven firearm-related charges.
Bishop Christopher Saunders, 75, pleaded guilty at Broome Magistrate Court June 16 to six charges of inadequately storing ammunition and firearms, as well as one count of possessing ammunition without a license.
Saunders, who stepped down in 2021, faces a total of 39 charges for a variety of alleged crimes, including sexual penetration without consent, indecent dealings with a child, and indecent and unlawful abuse.
The firearm charges were filed after police officers found a rifle and several rounds of ammunition in the bishop’s car, along with more than 500 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition stowed in a camera bag, during a January 2024 raid on the bishop’s home and office. Officers also found ammunition scattered throughout Saunders’ house and office.
Officers said that Saunders did not have a proper permit to possess the rifle and ammunition.
According to local media, Magistrate Deen Potter called the retired bishop's actions "extremely lax,” but noted that Saunders did not have a history of illegally possessing firearms and ammunition. The magistrate imposed a fine of 2,000 Australian dollars (roughly $1,300). The bishop also received a conviction that will be treated as spent.
Saunders’ guilty plea on the firearms charges came nearly nine months after he pleaded not guilty to sexual abuse and assault charges in an Australian court.
Saunders was arrested in February 2024 following the police raid the month before. He was charged with 26 offenses: 19 historical sex charges and seven firearms charges. He posted bond and was released.
He pleaded not guilty in September 2024 to the 19 abuse charges.
In December 2024, Saunders was charged with five more sexual offenses. He appeared in court, but did not enter a plea to the new charges. His lawyer said that Saunders planned to plead not guilty at his next court date.
In January this year, child abuse squad detectives re-arrested Saunders in Western Australia.
Saunders was charged with six new counts of abuse: the sexual penetration of a child under the age of 13, three counts of indecent dealings with a child under 13, and two common assault counts. The offenses are alleged to have taken place in Broome between 2009 and 2010.
This brought the number of charges against Saunders to 39. He did not immediately enter a plea regarding the most recent sexual assault charges, but has consistently maintained his innocence of sexual offenses.
Saunders led the Broome diocese from 1996 until 2021, when he resigned at 71 citing “ill health,” amid allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming against young Aboriginal men.
His resignation followed a decision to step back from governance of the diocese in 2020, after accusations that he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of Church funds on gifts for vulnerable young men, including cash, phones, alcohol, and travel.
The police investigation that led to the 2024 raid and the bishop’s arrest came after Church authorities handed over a 200-page investigation into Saunders’ alleged misconduct, ordered by the Vatican in 2022, after a separate police probe had been closed in 2021 due to a lack of evidence.
The Broome diocese covers the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of the sparsely populated state of Western Australia, serving around 15,000 Catholics out of a total population of 44,000 people.
Bishop Timothy Norton, S.V.D., was installed as the new Bishop of Broome on Dec. 4, 2024.
In a February 2025 message to Catholics in Broome diocese, Norton said that the court processes involving Saunders were expected to “take some time.”
“I acknowledge the vital role of the police and the court system in our society, and it is for that reason that I cannot make any specific comments about this case either now or into the future,” he wrote.
“Our diocese has and will continue to cooperate fully with the West Australian Police as they investigate these matters. It is in the best interests of all parties that justice be done and that the process has complete integrity.”
He added: “If you have any information relating to this matter, I urge you to go directly to the Western Australian Police. If this matter is causing you a significant level of distress or vulnerability, I would urge you to seek assistance. The diocese has a completely independent and confidential counseling service available.”
Thank you guys for reporting this. Even our public broadcaster and local outfits have lost interest in this story.
Don't we all feel safer now?