{"id":107803,"date":"2026-08-13T08:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T12:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107803"},"modified":"2026-08-13T08:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T12:23:21","slug":"australian-jury-convicts-former-catholic-bishop-of-sexually-abusing-2-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/13\/australian-jury-convicts-former-catholic-bishop-of-sexually-abusing-2-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian jury convicts former Catholic bishop of sexually abusing 2 men"},"content":{"rendered":"

PERTH, Australia (AP) \u2014 An Australian jury on Thursday convicted a former Catholic bishop renowned for hosting alcohol-fueled house parties of sexually abusing two young Indigenous men. The District Court of Western Australia jury convicted Christopher Saunders, 76, of 13 out of 19 charges of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred between 2008 and 2019 in his sprawling diocese on the country\u2019s tropical northwest coast. Prosecutors alleged he lured young Indigenous men to his church-owned house in the tourist town of Broome with free alcohol and cigarettes paid for with church funds. House rules included that the male-only guests had to remove their shirts. \u201cThe accused had a sexual interest in young Aboriginal men and a tendency to act on that interest when the opportunity presented itself,\u201d Prosecutor Adam Ebell had… <\/p>\n

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PERTH, Australia (AP) \u2014 An Australian jury on Thursday convicted a former Catholic bishop renowned for hosting alcohol-fueled house parties of sexually abusing two young Indigenous men. The District Court of Western Australia jury convicted Christopher Saunders, 76, of 13 out of 19 charges of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred between 2008 and 2019 in his sprawling diocese on the country\u2019s tropical northwest coast. Prosecutors alleged he lured young Indigenous men to his church-owned house in the tourist town of Broome with free alcohol and cigarettes paid for with church funds. House rules included that the male-only guests had to remove their shirts. \u201cThe accused had a sexual interest in young Aboriginal men and a tendency to act on that interest when the opportunity presented itself,\u201d Prosecutor Adam Ebell had... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nAustralian jury convicts former Catholic bishop of sexually abusing 2 men - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/13\/australian-jury-convicts-former-catholic-bishop-of-sexually-abusing-2-men\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australian jury convicts former Catholic bishop of sexually abusing 2 men - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PERTH, Australia (AP) \u2014 An Australian jury on Thursday convicted a former Catholic bishop renowned for hosting alcohol-fueled house parties of sexually abusing two young Indigenous men. 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