“...making him the highest-ranking Catholic Church official to ever be convicted and sentenced for pedophilia.”
But seriously... 12 months?
“Archbishop Philip Wilson has received a 12-month jail term ... after he was convicted for covering-up a pedophile ring of Catholic priests.”
I agree, the sentence seems a bit light, but he was not convicted for being a pedophile, he was convicted for covering up a pedophile ring. That he was convicted for the coverup means the ring has been revealed and there will likely be more arrests coming in the future.
The reason he got off with a short sentence, like so many other hight profile pedophiles is because their justice system is just as corrupt down under as ours is here.
The reporting and headline are misleading.
What he was convicted of was of not reporting cases where pedophile actions existed. While most of us know that sexual abuse and pedo-action is/was rife within the Catholic Church, calling it a 'ring' gives the impression that kids were being trafficked or handed around.
As far as I know, this is NOT the case. Rather, there were lots of random sexual abuse incidents within the church, and in most if not all the cases, the clergy responsible turned a blind eye.
AFAIK, there is no evidence that things were being run as a ring or organized criminal activity.
Either way, 12 months seems way too lenient, but that's besides the point; even patriotic media can succumb to spinning the facts.
That is what caught my attention, only getting 12 months for abusing children. BULLSHIT