Hillsong pastor (Sydney) didn't report pedophile father to cops - Royal Commission

Frank Houston

More love from the christians.....

What is it about churches and protecting pedophiles? This is the story of Hillsong founder pastor Frank Houston of New Zealand, with a long history of abuse over there before coming to Sydney and forming the mega-church Hillsong.

The long running Australian Royal Commission into institutional child sex abuse has found that Frank Houston's son, Brian Houston, acted improperly by never ringing the police over the crimes. He took charge of the investigation into his father within the church which has been deemed a conflict of interest. He was also involved in his father organising a $10,000 payment to a victim.

I don't know what will happen from here, but it does seem to me that Brian Houston broke the law by not reporting to the police the abuse.

Frank Houston was eventually suspended from preaching but Brian Houston never called police. 

Despite Brian Houston's claim to the contrary, the commission has found there was a conflict of interest between his personal and professional roles and that the church ignored its own policies during the investigation. 

"Pastor Brian Houston told the Royal Commission that he did not think he had a conflict of interest because he never attempted to defend his father from the allegations and he acted swiftly to suspend his credential," the commission found. 

"We do not accept the views expressed by pastor Brian Houston." 

The Commission found the conflict first arose when Brian Houston decided to confront his father about the allegations while holding the position of president and senior pastor. 

It found it was also apparent when he acted as a go-between, when his father organised a $10,000 payment to the victim. 

In his evidence at the Commission, Brian Houston said "the payment of money to [the victim] had nothing to do with the National Executive [of the Assemblies of God] because I was adamant that this was not about Hillsong; this was not about the Australian Assemblies of God in Australia. This payment was between Frank and [the victim]." 

Mr Houston also told the Commission he did not report his father's abuse to the police, despite acknowledging he had committed a criminal offence. ABC   

Brian Houston