*Update 2: "AHA"s full statement here.
Sydney Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston failed to report his father's sexual molestation of a victim to the police, and along with him and the church elders decided to keep the crime a secret.
The church has also been found by the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse to have not followed even it's own protocol when dealing with the crime.
The victim's needs were not addressed, instead offered a measly $10,000 at a local McDonalds that was supposed to make up for a ruined life. The church said it had dealt with the issue appropriately.
Ironically below I came across a little happy clappy preaching video of Brian Houston entitled "No more excuses". What a hypocrite.
It took a year before Brian Houston reported it to the church elders. (Daily Mail Australia).
"We are satisfied that, in 1999 and 2000, Pastor Brian Houston and the National Executive of the Assemblies of God in Australia did not refer the allegations of child sexual abuse against Mr Frank Houston to the police," the commissioners wrote in their report.
The commission heard that Mr Houston suspended his father from the church but it was decided at a meeting of senior Assemblies of God members the allegation would be kept confidential and Frank Houston would be allowed to quietly retire without the reason being made public.
"We consider that a conflict of interest first arose when Pastor Brian Houston decided to respond to the allegations by confronting his father while simultaneously maintaining his roles as National President (of the Assemblies of God in Australia) and Senior Pastor," the commissioners found.
The report concluded that senior staff at the Assemblies of God failed to follow their own protocol regarding sexual abuse claims and did not support the victim.
"The commissioners express the view that the NSW executive failed to appoint a contact person for the complainant, interview the complainant, have the state or national executive interview the alleged perpetrator, or record any of the steps it took," the commissioners wrote.
In his evidence, AHA said Frank Houston would come into his room "nearly every night of the week" and sexually molest him while staying with his family in 1970.
AHA told the commission the abuse had "destroyed his childhood", leaving him "full of shame, fear and embarrassment".
The commission heard AHA was offered $10,000 in exchange for his signature on a dirty napkin at a meeting with Frank Houston and Hillsong Church elder Nabi Saleh at Thornleigh McDonalds in 2000.
Hillsong Church released a statement saying Mr Houston acted appropriately. Sydney Morning Herald
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