PERTH, Australia – Former Broome Bishop Christopher Alan Saunders has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing two young Indigenous men in Western Australia.
The District Court of Western Australia imposed a total effective sentence of six years and six months on Wednesday for 13 offenses committed while Saunders was serving as bishop.
The 76-year-old was convicted in August of one count of sexual penetration without consent and 12 counts of indecent assault. The offenses occurred between 2008 and 2019.
Saunders has been in custody since his conviction. He will become eligible for parole in February 2031.
Convictions Involved Two Men
The convictions concerned two young Aboriginal men from Western Australia’s Kimberley region.
The court heard that some of the offenses occurred at Saunders’s former church-owned residence in Broome and at another property known as the beach house.
Saunders had been accused of offenses against three men. The jury convicted him on charges involving two of them but acquitted him of six other charges involving the third complainant.
The distinction is important because the wider investigation and original charges involved allegations that did not all result in convictions.
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Seven additional charges were removed from consideration during the trial because prosecutors could not establish the evidence required for convictions. Two further assault charges were later discontinued.
Court Hears Victim’s Statement
During sentencing, Judge Martin Flynn read part of a statement from one of Saunders’s victims.
The victim described the lasting pain caused by the abuse and said he felt he had been treated as a “toy” by Saunders.
The court had previously heard evidence about gatherings involving young Aboriginal men at properties associated with Saunders. The prosecution presented evidence concerning sexual contact and abuse during his time as Bishop of Broome.
Saunders Served as Bishop for 25 Years
Saunders became Bishop of Broome in 1996 and served in the position for about 25 years.
The Broome Diocese covers the Kimberley, a remote region of northern Western Australia with a large Indigenous population.
His position gave him substantial authority within the Catholic community in the region.
The criminal case concerns Saunders personally. The court’s convictions do not establish criminal liability by the Catholic Church as an institution.
Church Responds
The Catholic Church has previously apologized to the victims following Saunders’s conviction.
The Diocese of Broome said it was deeply sorry for the harm suffered by the complainants and acknowledged the length of time it took for their accounts to reach the courts.
A separate Vatican investigation into Saunders had been suspended while the criminal proceedings were underway. That process is expected to continue following the conclusion of the criminal trial.
Saunders’s sentence now establishes the immediate criminal-justice outcome in the case.
The former bishop will remain in prison under the six-and-a-half-year effective sentence and will be eligible to seek parole in February 2031.
Reporting Credit: District Court of Western Australia; Western Australia Police Force; Diocese of Broome; Australian Catholic Bishops Conference; official court records; Saunders’s legal representatives.
