Leaked Vatican investigation: Australian bishop preyed on vulnerable men and boys
September 19, 2023
» Continue to this story on 7News
CWN Editor's Note: A Vatican canonical investigation, leaked to Australian media, found that Bishop Christpher Saunders, now 73 years old, “likely sexually assaulted four youths while potentially grooming another 67.”
“The bishop has been variously described by witnesses as ... a sexual predator that seeks to prey upon vulnerable Aboriginal men and boys,” the leaked report was quoted as saying.
Bishop Saunders groomed “vulnerable young Aboriginal males by plying them with alcohol, cash, phones, phone credit, hotels, air and bus travel. It found he was spending up to $4000 a month on alcohol for the youths,” 7News, an Australian television news network, reported.
Bishop Saunders was appointed bishop of Broome in 1995 and resigned in 2021. The Vatican opened a canonical investigation in 2022; a police investigation concluded with a decision not to file charges.
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