Ex-bishop found to have abused young men at the height of his powers

The former Bishop of Broome, who at the peak of his powers was one of the most senior and long-serving Catholic clerics in the country, has been found guilty of sexually abusing young men.

Christopher Alan Saunders, 76, has been on trial accused of sex offences against three young men when he was the Bishop of a remote area of Western Australia three times larger than England.

After a trial that ran for more than three weeks, a District Court jury took almost seven hours to find him guilty of abusing two of those men.

He was convicted of one count of sexual penetration and 12 counts of indecent assault.

Saunders was found not guilty of six other charges.

There was no reaction from the former bishop after the verdicts were read out.

Vulnerable victims

The victims were young Aboriginal men who lived in the Kimberley, where Indigenous people make up more than 40 per cent of the population.

The assaults happened at various places, including at the Bishop's Catholic church-owned residence in the popular tourist haven of Broome, and at a retreat known as the beach house.

The court had been told of "shirts off" gatherings that Saunders held, supplying alcohol and food to young men wearing only boxer shorts.

The then-bishop would occasionally engage in wrestling and boxing with the men, the court heard.

The court had heard Mr Saunders had used his feet to touch young men sexually, grabbed their "privates" and in one instance, engaged in oral sex without consent.

As he chose not to give evidence in his defence, the playing of police interview recordings were the only occasions when the jurors could hear denials from Mr Saunders himself.

The prosecution told the jury Mr Saunders had a sexual interest in young Aboriginal men and a "tendency" to act on that interest.

In closing submissions, prosecutor Adam Ebell said while the victims did have criminal histories, the jurors should focus on what they said happened to them at the hands of Saunders, a trusted figure at least one of the men referred to as 'Brother B'.

Defence lawyer Tony Hager said his client's behaviour might have been unusual, "boozy" and "sleazy".

But Mr Hager said Saunders wasn't on trial for inviting young Aboriginal men over to have a drink, or for using church funds to buy alcohol, or for taking alcohol to a dry community.

He told the jury his client "wasn't on trial in Rome" for not adhering to a code of conduct, or "standing before the Pope" trying to justify his pastoral care as he was not on trial "as a representative of the Catholic Church".

Mr Hager suggested the memories of the three complainants may have been affected by alcohol use, especially given the passage of time since the alleged events.