HARDLY JAIL

Australian Archbishop Sentenced to House Arrest for Hiding Sex Abuse

There were reportedly “audible groans” in the courtroom once the judgment was read.

An Australian archbishop was found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse but was spared jail time by the court and will serve 12 months of home detention, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Archbishop Philip Edward Wilson is reportedly the most senior member of the Catholic Church in the world to be found guilty of covering up child abuse and refused to resign from his position when he was found guilty in May of not reporting a “notorious” pedophile priest to police after hearing about him abusing a 10-year old altar boy. Magistrate Robert Stone said Wilson’s “age, mental and physical conditions,” and his lack of prior criminal record led to his decision to sentence the archbishop to house arrest. There were reportedly “audible groans” in the courtroom once the decision was announced. Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, was also caught in a sex abuse scandal earlier this year—with victims suggesting that he knew about the sexual abuses happening in Chile.