Sydney, Australia
AP
Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston will plead not guilty to illegally concealing alleged child abuse by his father, his lawyer told a court on Tuesday.
Houston did not appear at Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court when his charge was mentioned before a registrar for the first time. His lawyer told the court Houston would be pleading not guilty to the charge of concealing a serious indictable offence of another person, his late preacher father Frank Houston.
The case will next be before the court on 23rd November.
Founder of the Sydney-based global Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, in Sydney, on 7th October, 2014. PICTURE: Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP.
Police will allege that Frank Houston indecently assaulted a young male in 1970.
Court documents allege that Brian Houston believed his father had committed the crime. Police will allege that the younger Houston failed to disclose information to police that could help secure the prosecution of his father.
Houston, 64, was in the United States in August when detectives served his Sydney lawyers with a notice for him to appear in court.
He said in a statement at the time he welcomed the “opportunity to set the record straight”.
Houston returned to Sydney last month and was released from 14 days’ hotel quarantine last week.
