Brian Houston did not report his paedophile father to police in order to protect the church, and bought his father’s victim’s silence to stop him going to the “secular authorities”, a Sydney court has heard.
Houston, the founding pastor of the Hillsong megachurch, is on trial for one count of concealing a serious indictable offence of another person, for not reporting to police his father’s confession to repeatedly sexually assaulting and raping a young boy who was a member of his church.
Frank Houston died in 2004. When he confessed his offending to his son, Brian, in 1999, Brian Houston reported it to senior members of the church but not to police.
Houston, who has pleaded not guilty, has maintained he had a “reasonable excuse” for not reporting the assaults to police, because that was in keeping with the victim’s wishes, who explicitly told him he did not want it reported.
But in closing submissions, crown prosecutor Gareth Harrison argued Brian Houston was concerned only with keeping knowledge of the offending “within the church” and protecting his father’s and the church’s reputation.
“His only focus was to protect the church and go nowhere near the police.”
Harrison submitted that Houston knew he could safely report the matter to church authorities, because none of them would report the matter to “secular authorities”.
“[Brian Houston] knew these people would not go to the police. Not one of these people mentioned going to the police to him,” Harrison said.
“This demonstrates, absolutely, that the culture of this church was to keep it ‘in-house’ and not to go to the police. With that knowledge, he was able to conceal this from the police.”
Houston sat in the back row of a packed public gallery for Thursday’s hearing, supported by his wife and other church members.
Frank Houston’s victim, Brett Sengstock – who has chosen to waive his right to anonymity – gave evidence at this trial, saying Frank Houston’s abuse began when he was seven and escalated over years, including the senior pastor “repeatedly” raping him in his Sydney home.
Sengstock said he did not disclose the sexual assaults until he was about 16, after his mother sent him to see Frank Houston for counselling.
Frank Houston was masturbating under his desk during the meeting, causing Sengstock to leave, the court heard.
Frank Houston confessed his offending to his son, Brian, in 1999. At a meeting that year with Frank Houston at a suburban McDonald’s restaurant, Sengstock signed a blank napkin in exchange for agreeing to accept a $10,000 payment, which he described as being “paid for my silence”.
When the money had not arrived weeks later, Sengstock told the court he called Brian Houston, who told him: “You know this is all your fault, you tempted my father.” The money was ultimately paid.
Harrison told the court on Thursday this was clearly “hush money” to stop Sengstock going to police.
“Clearly Mr Sengstock was being paid off to keep this secret. The crown submits … this was buying Mr Sengstock’s silence.”
Houston “knew it was hush money”, Harrison said.
Harrison argued Brian Houston knew he held a responsibility to report the offending to police, and that Sengstock was contemplating filing a criminal complaint against his father.
The trial heard that Brian Houston told Sengstock’s great-aunt he had consulted a barrister who had told him if the case went to court “his father would surely be incarcerated for the crime”. Brian Houston denied ever consulting a barrister or making this statement.
Brian Houston gave evidence during the trial last year, telling the court he had a “reasonable excuse” for not reporting his father’s offending to police, and that he immediately informed a meeting of the national executive of the Assemblies of God church, who banned Frank Houston from preaching.
“What I was committed to was [Sengstock’s] wishes, not betraying him and his wishes,” Houston said.
“And making sure that the national executive were aware of this complaint that I’d received. To me, that was me making sure that justice was done.
“I believe we did the right thing, that I personally did the right thing.”
Houston also argued that before his father’s death in November 2004, there were thousands of people who knew of Frank Houston’s paedophilia but did not report it to police.
In a sermon Brian Houston gave in 2002 before a crowd of 18,000 people, he said: “I had to confront my own father, who I loved and still love, and I had to confront him with this accusation. To which he made certain confessions. And I, along with others, had to sack my own dad.
“And the best way I can describe this … It was like jets flying into the twin towers of my soul.”
Harrison, for the crown, argued the sermon contained only “allusions” to wrongdoing, and in it, Brian Houston had “sanitised” his father’s offending.
“You alluded to things that he had done wrong but you didn’t hit the nail on the head.”
During his evidence, Brian Houston said he did not seek to conceal his father’s offending. He told the court he had “very recently” been told of new allegations against his father.
“There’s an allegation about Frank from much earlier, when I was a very young boy – in a boys’ home he worked in as a Salvation Army officer,” he told the court. “I have no doubt now my father was a serial paedophile and we’ll probably never know the extent of it.”
Section 316 of the NSW Crimes Act states a person has a “reasonable excuse” for not reporting their knowledge of a serious crime if “the person believes on reasonable grounds that the alleged victim does not wish the information to be reported to police or another appropriate authority”.
In his closing submissions, Houston’s defence counsel, Phillip Boulten SC, told the court it was clear that at the time the offending became known, “Brett Sengstock did not want the matter taken to police”.
“He did not want any civil or criminal action against Frank Houston. He never reported the matter to police.”
Boulten said Frank Houston was a “role model and spiritual guide” to his son and the impact of the revelation that his father was a paedophile had a cataclysmic impact.
“But that doesn’t mean that my client was without reasonable excuse, if, as it turns out, Brett [Sengstock] was saying ‘I don’t want this to go anywhere’.”
Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie, founded the Hills Christian Life Centre in 1983. In 2001 it merged with the inner-Sydney parishes founded by his father to become Hillsong.
The Pentecostal and evangelical organisation has since grown to become a global megachurch with places of worship in 30 countries.
Closing submissions are continuing before magistrate Gareth Christofi at Sydney’s Downing Centre court.
In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
