Hillsong Church Founder Brian Houston Found Not Guilty For Covering Up Frank Houston’s Sex Abuse

The founder of Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, was found not guilty by an Australian court for covering up his late father’s, preacher Frank Houston, sex abuse allegations. 

Brian worked as a senior global pastor in Sydney but was forced to step down after he was accused in 2021. After being charged, he maintained that he was innocent asserting the “charges have come as a shock to me. I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.” 

Officials issued a statement in 2021 that read, “Police will allege in court [Houston] knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police.”

It was ruled on Thursday by Syndey Magistrate Gareth Christofi that Brian had good reason not to share this sexual abuse as he believed the victim Brett Sengstock did not want this information not be reported to the authorities. Although, during the trial, Sengstock testified that he never told Brian this. 

Frank confessed to his crimes before he died in 1999. It is believed that he abused nine different boys while he worked as a pastor. Sengstock was only seven years old when his abuse began and continued for several years. 

After the verdict was delivered, Sengstock stated that the decision blamed him for the church failing to report Frank. “Frank Houston was no pioneer for Christianity. His legacy remains a faded memory of a pedophile. Regardless of today’s outcome, I have received a life sentence. Blaming the victim is as repulsive as the assaults themselves,” he told reporters at the time. 

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Brian also shared a few words about the trial and his father.  “I want to express my sadness to Brett Sengstock, genuine sadness about what my father did to him and all his victims,” he said. “He was obviously a serial pedophile. We probably will never know the extent of his pedophilia. A lot of people’s lives have been tragically hurt and for that, I’ll always be very sad. But I’m not my father.” 

Hillsong Church additionally released a statement about the ruling sharing, “Our prayer is that those impacted deeply and irrevocably by the actions of Frank Houston will find peace and healing, and that our former senior pastor Brian Houston and his family can look to the future and continue to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives.”