05 - 08 - 2021
Hillsong founder facing criminal charge
Brian Houston has been charged with concealing information about the sexual abuse of a young male.
Hillsong founder and pastor Brian Houston has been charged with concealing alleged child sex offences in the 1970s.
NSW Police will allege Mr Houston knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male but never reported it to police.
Police first began investigating the matter in 2019.
They handed a brief of evidence to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who gave advice to the police this week.
Mr Houston's lawyer received a court attendance notice for concealing a serious indictable offence on Thursday afternoon.
The founder of the Hillsong Church was among the people Prime Minister Scott Morrison wanted to be invited to a White House dinner when he visited the US in 2019.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House knocked back the request, which Mr Morrison only admitted making six months later.
Mr Houston was known to have been under police investigation for his failure to report his father's sexual abuse of children.
The child sex abuse royal commission found he failed to tell police about the abuse allegations against Frank Houston.
He will appear in Downing Centre Local Court on October 5.
Hillsong founder and pastor Brian Houston has been charged with concealing alleged child sex offences in the 1970s.
NSW Police will allege Mr Houston knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male but never reported it to police.
Police first began investigating the matter in 2019.
They handed a brief of evidence to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who gave advice to the police this week.
Mr Houston's lawyer received a court attendance notice for concealing a serious indictable offence on Thursday afternoon.
The founder of the Hillsong Church was among the people Prime Minister Scott Morrison wanted to be invited to a White House dinner when he visited the US in 2019.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House knocked back the request, which Mr Morrison only admitted making six months later.
Mr Houston was known to have been under police investigation for his failure to report his father's sexual abuse of children.
The child sex abuse royal commission found he failed to tell police about the abuse allegations against Frank Houston.
He will appear in Downing Centre Local Court on October 5.
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Extracts from Wikipedia:
(1) Founder's lack of reporting of child sexual abuse by his father Frank Houston
Frank Houston, the father of Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston, was a pastor in New Zealand and Australia who sexually abused boys over the course of his ministry.
One of the nine identified victims was routinely subjected to sexual abuse in the 1960s and '70s when he was 7 to 12 years old. In 1999, his mother reported the abuse to the Assemblies of God denomination.
Although Brian Houston, then National President of the Assemblies of God denomination in Australia, was legally obligated to report the crime, he did not do so.
Brian Houston said he felt it was a reasonable excuse not to report the crime when the victim is an adult when the crime comes to light and said the victim did not want the crime reported (an assertion that was denied by the victim). The victim later testified to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that Frank Houston offered him AU$10,000 as compensation at a McDonald's in the presence of Nabi Saleh.
During an internal church investigation, Frank Houston eventually confessed to the crime. The commission also heard that he was involved in the sexual abuse of other children in New Zealand. Frank Houston resigned from his church in 2000, which now lacking a pastor, was merged into Hillsong Church.
A further internal investigation by Assemblies of God in Australia, in conjunction with the Assemblies of God in New Zealand, found six additional child sexual abuse allegations that were regarded as credible.
On 5 August 2021, NSW Police issued a warrant for Brian Houston to attend the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on 5 October, alleging that Houston concealed child sexual abuse by his late father, Frank. Houston was in the United States at the time of being charged.
(2) Criticism from a former member
Hillsong's attitude towards criticism was portrayed negatively by one former member, Tanya Levin, in her book People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story of a Life In and Out of Hillsong.
Hillsong's attitude towards criticism was portrayed negatively by one former member, Tanya Levin, in her book People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story of a Life In and Out of Hillsong.
Specific criticisms covered authoritarian church governance, lack of financial accountability, resistance to free thought, strict fundamentalist teachings and lack of compassion.
In an interview with Andrew Denton, Levin further discussed her experience of Hillsong, which she described as "toxic Christianity".
(3) Carl Lentz rise and fall
Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz helped to lead Hillsong's first church in the United States, in New York. He befriended Justin Bieber, and developed a celebrity following.
Hillsong expanded on the East Coast under Lentz, but some members felt that it became unduly focused on fashion, and on servicing the desires of its pastors and its famous patrons.
Church volunteers were allegedly expected to work long hours, and were reportedly treated as second-class citizens and gaslighted.
Around 2017, two Hillsong volunteers who attempted to convey their concerns about Mr Lentz to Hillsong leadership were allegedly intercepted and dismissed.
In 2020, Hillsong fired Lentz after finding that Lentz had engaged in "more than one extra-marital affair" and was currently involved in one. Lentz's lover stated that Hillsong is not "genuine. That's the truth. It's a money machine ... and I think it's wrong ... I think [Lentz] is a victim of his own church. He gave his life to this church, and that's how they played him."
In 2020, Hillsong fired Lentz after finding that Lentz had engaged in "more than one extra-marital affair" and was currently involved in one. Lentz's lover stated that Hillsong is not "genuine. That's the truth. It's a money machine ... and I think it's wrong ... I think [Lentz] is a victim of his own church. He gave his life to this church, and that's how they played him."
(4) Accusations of cult status
Former members of the church have come forward to accuse the church of being a cult, claiming that the leaders abuse employees and volunteers by treating them as "slave labour", and interfering with their personal lives, such as requiring them to "ask a pastor's permission to date".
Former members of the church have come forward to accuse the church of being a cult, claiming that the leaders abuse employees and volunteers by treating them as "slave labour", and interfering with their personal lives, such as requiring them to "ask a pastor's permission to date".
In November 2020, following testimony from Hillsong volunteers, Hillsong announced an independent investigation into concerns about the New York branch.
These wolves in sheep clothing should be whipped and castrated.
ReplyDeleteI shudder to think of those sexually abused that we do not know of. I am pretty sure there are instances of such abuse in the temples and mosques or madrasahs.
Those abused should find the courage to consult with a confidante and report to the police.