Brian Houston, the founder and former leader of the global megachurch Hillsong, was acquitted Thursday in Sydney, Australia, of a charge connected to failing to report his father’s sexual abuse of a child.
Mr. Houston had faced one count of concealing a serious indictable offense for another person.
Mr. Houston pleaded not guilty and told a court in Sydney that he did not report the assault because the victim did not want it reported.
When Mr. Houston learned of his father’s offense, which had occurred in the 1970s, he alerted church leadership but did not report the assault to the police.
His father, Frank Houston, who also was a pastor, died in 2004.
Persons:
Brian Houston, Houston, Houston’s, Frank Houston, Gareth Christofi
Organizations:
Hillsong
Locations:
Sydney, Australia, New South Wales