Adelaide’s Catholic archbishop granted second appeal
Adelaide’s Catholic archbishop will be allowed to once again appeal over a decision not to halt criminal proceedings relating to the alleged concealment of child sex assault.
The Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson.
NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC today argued another appeal by Archbishop Philip Wilson would have little chance of success.
But Court of Appeal judges Justice Carolyn Simpson and Justice Arthur Emmett granted permission for an appeal to be heard in front of a full panel of judges.
Wilson, who is believed to be the world’s most senior Catholic charged with such offences, is accused of concealing information relevant to the 1971 sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy by deceased pedophile priest James Fletcher in Maitland.
The prosecution has claimed Wilson knew or had information that might have helped to secure a prosecution of the priest between 2004-2006.
He unsuccessfully took his bid to have the charges halted to the Supreme Court in 2016 after a magistrate refused to quash or permanently stay the proceedings.
– AAP
