Brian Houston Pleads Not Guilty in Downing Centre Court Over Father’s Alleged Abuse Concealment

Frank Houston admitted to other executives in Australia’s Pentecostal church network that he had sexually abused children, after his son raised allegations with him, a Sydney court has heard. Keith Ainge, former national secretary of the Assemblies of God in Australia (AOG), told the Downing Centre local court that he was present when Frank Houston was confronted with allegations dating back to his time in New Zealand. Frank Houston has been described in the proceedings as a disgraced former pastor.

The court heard that Brian Houston, the Hillsong founder, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of concealing a serious indictable offence of another person, relating to his father. The charge stems from the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. Crown prosecutor Phillip Boulten SC argued that Brian Houston had a reasonable excuse for not reporting the matter to authorities, because he believed the survivor did not want it investigated. Boulten also told the court that Brian Houston addressed his father’s abuse in multiple sermons attended by thousands of people and broadcast on television before Frank Houston’s death in 2004.

According to the court, Brian Houston, then national president of the AOG, called an urgent meeting at an airport in late 1999 and told other executives about his father’s abuse. Some of those executives were sent to New Zealand, where they learned of other cases. Frank Houston had already been stripped of his credential to minister by his son before that meeting.

By the time Ainge and other AOG executives visited Frank Houston’s Beecroft home in 2000, they had learned the names of more boys he had allegedly abused. Ainge told the court that Frank Houston admitted specifically to one instance but claimed to have no memory of the others. Protecting children who cannot speak for themselves lies at the centre of these allegations (Proverbs 31:8-9).

Ainge described his recollections as “pretty vague.” He quoted Frank Houston as saying “Oh yeah something did happen” about one boy, and said Frank Houston told them “I was having some issues at the time” the abuse occurred. Ainge said he got the impression from Frank Houston’s reaction that his cognitive function was deteriorating due to dementia. Magistrate Gareth Christofi asked Ainge whether he had formed that impression because Frank Houston was being vague about abusing children decades earlier.

The court was told that Frank Houston was asked whether he had abused other children since the time he was having “issues.”

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