Australian court charges former Broome bishop with rape

Australian bishop Christopher Saunders has been accused of rape and a series of old sex crimes, including some involving children.

The 74-year-old was taken into custody in Broome on Wednesday, after both the police in Western Australia and the Pope’s investigations.

Mr Saunders, who has denied doing anything wrong before, was not allowed to leave jail and will have to go to court on Thursday.

He is one of the oldest Catholic priests to be charged with this.

Mr Saunders is accused of raping two people, assaulting 14 people in a bad way, and doing inappropriate things with children while he was in charge of them.

Between 2008 and 2014, it is said that the crime happened in the faraway towns of Broome and Kununurra in Western Australia, as well as in the Aboriginal community of Kalumburu.

Apart from Cardinal George Pell, who was sent to jail and then found not guilty, Mr. Saunders is the highest-ranking Catholic leader in the country to be accused of child sex crimes.

On Thursday, The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said they will work with the police and find the charges against Mr. Saunders very serious and upsetting, especially for those making the allegations.

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said it is important to fully investigate all the allegations.

Mr Saunders started working as a minister in 1976 and has mostly worked in the faraway Kimberley area in the north-west of the country. He became the Bishop of Broome in 1996.

The diocese covers a large area of about 770,000 sq km, which is about the same size as Turkey. It includes very faraway parts of the country.

Mr Saunders is popular for being sociable, doing advocacy work, and taking young men on camping and fishing trips. He is an important person in the local community. A beer is named after him.

The accusations were first made in 2020, but the police didn’t find enough evidence to charge anyone.

He chose to step down from his position as the Bishop of Broome in 2020, but still holds the title of emeritus bishop.

But after the Pope ordered a big investigation, the police started looking into it again.

Only a few Vos Estis Lux Mundi investigations have been conducted globally. In Latin, “Vos Estis” means “You Are the Light of the World. ” It is an investigation ordered by the pope in 2019 to stop sexual abuse and punish leaders in the Catholic Church who have done wrong.