Hillsong is a massive church out west, happy clappy Pentecostals. Is very well known. An interesting look into what went on behind the scenes with a kid being molested.
BTW, our illustrious immigration minister Scott Morrison is a member of Hillsong.
Under cross-examination from counsel assisting, Simeon Beckett, AHA said Frank Houston had touched his genitals and digitally penetrated him. The molestation stopped when AHA reached puberty.
He did not disclose the abuse until he was 16 when he told his mother, who advised him to stay quiet.
"It was very difficult for her to accept ... the Houstons were considered to be almost like royalty in those circles," he said.
She expressed concern that people would leave the church if the abuse became public knowledge, telling him: "You don't want to be responsible for turning people from the church and sending them to hell."
In 1998, AHA's mother disclosed the abuse to a senior pastor at the Emmanuel Christian Family Church, who said she would refer it to the Assemblies of God hierarchy instead of the police.
Shortly afterwards, Frank Houston, then aged in his late 70s, got in touch with AHA to offer financial compensation.
AHA said Frank Houston told him: "I want your forgiveness for this. I don't want to die and have to face God with this on my head."
They met at McDonald's in Thornleigh where AHA was asked to sign a food-stained napkin in return for a cheque for $10,000.
When Brian Houston, the national president of the Assemblies of God in Australia from 1997 to 2009, became aware of allegations against his father he suspended him from the church.
The commission heard a meeting of senior Assemblies of God members was called and it was decided that the allegation would be kept confidential. When other allegations of abuse involving six boys in New Zealand came to light, it was decided that Frank Houston would retire, without the exact reason being made public. Read more
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