Christopher Alan Saunders, the 76-year-old former bishop of Broome, has been found guilty of 13 sex offences involving two young Aboriginal men. The conviction followed a jury trial in the West Australian district court on Thursday.
The offences, which took place between 2008 and 2019, included one count of sexual penetration without consent and 12 charges of unlawful and indecent assault. Saunders was acquitted of six other charges, including two counts of indecently dealing with a child over 16 under his authority and four counts of unlawful and indecent assault. A further seven charges were dropped mid-trial due to insufficient evidence.
Prosecutors stated that Saunders, known as Brother B by his victims, hosted alcohol-fuelled parties at Catholic church-owned properties to gain access to Aboriginal boys and men for sexual assault. Adam Ebell, the prosecutor, said Saunders had a sexual interest in young Aboriginal men and exploited the power imbalance.
Saunders denied the sexual assaults. His lawyer, Tony Hager, argued that the three complainants were convicted criminals with long records whose memories were affected by alcohol and drug abuse.
Saunders was ordained as the second Broome bishop in 1996, overseeing 13 schools and nine parishes. He stepped aside in 2020 when the sex abuse claims became public, and Pope Francis accepted his resignation a year later.