Former Broome bishop faces 6 new charges
The former bishop of Australia’s Broome diocese is facing six new abuse charges, taking the total number of criminal charges against him to 39.
The new charges include the alleged rape of a boy under 13. The Australian bishops’ conference said in September 2023 that an internal Church investigation into Bishop Christopher Saunders had identified no potential victims under the age of 18.
Australian media reported that child abuse squad detectives re-arrested Saunders in Western Australia Jan. 26.
The 75-year-old bishop was charged with 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.
Saunders was initially arrested in February 2024 following a January police raid on his former residence in the Broome diocese. He was charged with 26 offenses: 19 historical sex charges and seven firearms charges.
The 19 charges comprised two counts of sexual penetration without consent, three counts of indecent dealings with a child, and 14 unlawful and indecent assault counts.
In June 2024, he was charged with two further unlawful and indecent assault charges.
He pleaded not guilty in September 2024 to the abuse charges. He is yet to submit a plea concerning the firearms charges.
He faced five more unlawful and indecent assault charges in December 2024. He is expected to enter a plea to the five charges from December and the six new charges at his next court appearance, scheduled for Feb. 3.
Saunders led the Broome diocese from 1996 until 2021, when he resigned 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 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 the previous year due to lack of evidence.
The results of the canonical investigation into Saunders were forwarded to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the canonical process on hold pending the criminal proceedings against the bishop.
In April 2024, Saunders’ former secretary told The Pillar she had been ordered by the bishop to make “hush money” payments to the bishop’s alleged victims during her time working for him.
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.
Australian media said Norton stressed that the Broome diocese would continue to cooperate with police amid an ongoing investigation.
“Accordingly, no further comment will be made regarding the former bishop of Broome until such time as all legal proceedings are concluded,” he said.
“The protection of children and adults at risk remains our highest priority. We encourage anyone who has experienced abuse, or suspects abuse within the community, to come forward and report it to police.”
Thank you for the reporting and the disgust continues.
“The new charges include the alleged rape of a boy under 13. The Australian bishops’ conference LIED? [said] in September 2023 that an internal Church investigation into Bishop Christopher Saunders had identified no potential victims under the age of 18.”