Brian Houston (left) and his father, Frank Houston. Photo / File
Brian Houston (left) and his father, Frank Houston. Photo / File
Hillsong founder Brian Houston did not cover up the sexual abuse of a young boy by his father and did not go to the police because the complainant did not want it reported, his lawyer has told a court.
Houston, 68, is standing trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court, where he is defending allegations that he failed to go to the police about complaints he received about his father Frank.
He has pleaded not guilty to one charge of concealing the serious indictable offence of another person.
Police allege Houston knew from September 1999 that his father Frank Houston had indecently assaulted a 7-year-old boy in 1970.
The court was told that Frank Houston, who was then based in New Zealand, in early 1970 abused the young boy while in Sydney as a travelling pastor.
Frank Houston died in 2004. In the picture dated 1995 he is visiting New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
At the time, Brian Houston was 17 or 18 and had no involvement or knowledge of his father’s abuse, the court was told.
Former Hillsong pastor Brian Houston is defending allegations that he failed to go to police about his father’s sexual abuse of a young boy.
Crown prosecutor Gareth Harrison told the court the complainant did not disclose Frank Houston’s abuse until he was 16 years old when he told his mother, who discouraged him from telling anyone.
Eventually, Frank Houston’s abuse was reported to church elders and Brian Houston.
And during a meeting in 1999, the court was told, Frank Houston confessed to his son.
The complainant was given $10,000 by Frank Houston, the court was told.
It’s alleged Brian Houston failed to tell the authorities despite believing his father had committed the assault and knowing he had information that might help a prosecution.
He is alleged to have withheld the information from September 15, 1999, to November 9, 2004, the day after Frank Houston’s death.
Brian Houston has described his father's acts as "repulsive". Photo / Hillsong TV
The prosecution pointed to transcripts of interviews that Brian Houston gave to the ABC and Ben Fordham about confronting his father about his abuse of the boy.
The court was told that Brian Houston was defending the charges on the basis he had a “reasonable excuse” not to go to authorities because the complainant did not wish to make a statement to police.
His defence barrister Phillip Boulten SC told the court that Brian Houston had made public statements and thousands of people were aware of his father’s offending, including police.
“There were something like tens of thousands of people who knew Frank Houston had abused a boy or boys when he was a pastor 30-something years before,” Boulten said.
“Those people, not just limited to people who attended church … Even in the charge period the accused was interviewed by the media and it was in the media that his father had committed offences against boys.”
Boulten further told the court that the complainant, who was by then 36 years old, had told Brian Houston that he did not want the matter raised with police.
However, the Crown prosecution said the complainant denied ever telling Brian Houston that he did not want to make a statement to police.
“The prosecution case is that he didn’t report not because of what the complainant wanted but because of other reasons … The primary prosecution case is the reason he didn’t report it was to protect his father and the church,” Harrison said.
The hearing before magistrate Gareth Christofi continues.
