Australian jury convicts ex-Catholic bishop of sexually abusing 2 men

An Australian jury on Thursday convicted a former Catholic bishop renowned for hosting alcohol-fuelled house parties of sexually abusing two young Indigenous men.

Prosecutors alleged he lured young Indigenous men to his church-owned house with free alcohol and cigarettes paid for with church funds. House rules included that the male-only guests had to remove their shirts.

The convictions included one count of sexual penetration without consent and a dozen indecent assaults.

He was acquitted of six charges that included a third alleged victim and indecent dealing with a child over the age of 16. While the age of consent in the state is 16, the law raises the effective age of consent to 18 if an older person is in a position of trust, power or responsibility.

Four charges of sexual penetration of a child younger than 13 years were dropped on the first day of Saunders’ three-week trial.