Australian archbishop found guilty of concealing child sex abuses
Canberra, May 22: An Australian court has found Catholic Archbishop Philip Wilson guilty of concealing child sexual abuse cases, media reported on Monday. He faces a maximum jail term of upto two years.
Wilson, the archbishop of Adelaide, becomes the most senior Catholic in the world to be charged and convicted of the offence, the BBC reported.
He was found to have covered up the abuse of altar boys by a paedophile priest in New South Wales in the 1970s. Wilson will be sentenced in June.
During his trial, Wilson denied any memory of being told about the abuse by two of the boys.
He told the Newcastle court he had not been aware of priest James Fletcher's abuse, which took place while he was an assistant priest in Maitland, the BBC report added.
Fletcher was convicted of nine child sexual abuse charges in 2004 and died in jail in 2006.
One of his victims, Peter Creigh, told the court he had described the abuse to Wilson in detail when he was 15, five years after the abuse, the BBC reported.
Magistrate Robert Stone rejected Wilson's assertion that he could not remember the conversation and said he found Creigh to be a reliable witness.
The priest knew "what he was hearing was a credible allegation and the accused wanted to protect the Church and its reputation", said Magistrate Stone.
Wilson's lawyers had attempted four times to get the case thrown out after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the BBC said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
UP CM Adityanath's plane makes emergency landing in Agra due to technical snag
Agra/Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI): An aircraft carrying Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made an emergency landing at the Agra airport shortly after take off due to a technical snag, officials said.
The chief minister resumed his journey to Lucknow after over two hours, they said.
Adityanath was in Agra for a public event to mark the eighth anniversary of the BJP government in the state.
"After the programme, the chief minister was scheduled to leave from the Kheria Airport in Agra around 3.30 pm. The aircraft took off but returned shortly apparently due to a snag, which was then inspected by officials," a police official told PTI.
"The chief minister finally resumed his onward journey around 5.30 pm from Kheria," the official added.
Senior Agra district administration and police officials remained at the airport while the chief minister waited there. BJP supporters and local politicians were also present outside the airport.
Earlier in the day, Adityanath inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 128 projects worth Rs 635.22 crore at 'Vikas Utsav' held in Agra to mark the completion of eight years of his government.
"Residents of Agra now have access to metro rail services, officially making Agra a metro city. The construction of the civil terminal at the airport is in its final stages," he said, adding that previous governments failed to provide these facilities.
