Ex-archbishop Philip Wilson gets home detention for covering up child sexual abuse

Former Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson has been sentenced with home detention for covering up child sex abuse. In May, the disgraced former Catholic bishop was found guilty of failing to report allegations of child sexual assaults to authorities in 1976 when he was still an assistant parish priest in New South Wales.

In July, he was sentenced to one year of detention with six months non-parole for concealing the sex abuse of children at the hands of paedophile priest Jim Fletcher. But on Tuesday, magistrate Robert Stone gave him home detention following an assessment by authorities.

Wilson, 67, will be detained at his sister’s house near Newcastle. He will be made to wear a tracking device and be under strict supervision. He will be eligible for parole after six months.

Stone found him unlikely to reoffend. However, he also found that the former archbishop had shown no “remorse or contrition” for covering up Fletcher’s crimes. The magistrate cited Wilson’s age, mental and physical conditions, and that he was previously of good character in his decision to sentence him to a home detention.

His lawyer said they would lodge an appeal. However, they did not apply for bail.

He became the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of concealing child sex abuse in the world in May. He initially refused to resign from his positions, appealing instead his conviction. On July 30, Pope Francis accepted his resignation as archbishop.

Fletcher was found guilty in 2004 of child sexual abuse in the 1970s. He died of stroke in jail in 2006.