When I first started investigating this story six years ago, I spent two weeks trekking around the remote reaches of Western Australia with a handycam hidden in a used Coles shopping bag.
I’d cut a hole in the bottom of the bag, so the lens could remain hidden and yet capture clean pictures of what would become one of the biggest scandals in history to hit the Catholic Church.
That very amateur undercover mission resulted in a landmark legal victory in the WA District Court on Thursday.
Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
The former Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders was found guilty on 13 sex crimes charges — including rape.
His victims were the most vulnerable and underprivileged cohort in the State — young, homeless, Aboriginal males.
Christopher Saunders arrives at the Perth District Court. Credit: Michael Wilson/The West Australian
Saunders now officially becomes the highest-ranked Catholic in the country found guilty of sex crimes.
That notorious epithet once belonged to Cardinal George Pell — until he was exonerated by the High Court in 2020.
Coincidentally, it was 2020 when I began the investigation into finding Pell’s replacement.
It began with two incoming phone calls from whistleblowers who can now be identified: the Bishop’s secretary and one of his priests.
At first, I told them it wasn’t something I could help with; I did news not investigations.
Secondly, I was based in Sydney, so there was no way I would get to Western Australia.
Just two months later, the COVID pandemic erupted and I was dispatched to Christmas Island, off the WA coast, where the first of the so-called “Wuhan refugees” were being flown for quarantine.
Chris Reason with ex-Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders. Credit: 7NEWS/7NEWS
After a week covering that story, I rang my wife to tell her I was heading home.
“You’re not coming here,” she said.
“Tell Channel Seven they can put you in a quarantine hotel for two weeks.”
My wife was as medically hyper-paranoid as she was unsentimental. I was not welcome back.
So, I rang my 7NEWS boss and asked if I could instead head to Broome and spend two weeks investigating the tip-offs my whistleblowers had given me.
And so began the two-week Coles-cam chase.
I followed Bishop Saunders all over the region for thousands of kilometres.
But his behaviour quickly seemed to confirm what the whistleblowers had reported. He spent an inordinate amount of time with young Aboriginal males.
Former Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders at Our Lady Queen Of Peace Cathedral, Broome. Credit: Stephen Scourfield/WA News
They would come to his house at all hours; they would come to the back of his office to receive envelopes of what I later learned were cash handouts.
Whistleblower Cherrille Quilty was once the Bishop’s secretary. She explained to me that in her time working in his office, she was tasked with withdrawing thousands of dollars which would be spent on these young men.
Bus tickets, mobile phones, phone credit, cigarettes, alcohol, plane tickets, hotels. And the cash gifts. All from Church funds, mostly sourced via their charity shops and private donations.
But Cherrille also had a copy of a list which had been pinned to the office wall. It held 67 names, mostly male.
With the help of the priest whistleblower Farther John Purnell, I tracked down one of those names living rough in remote Fitzroy Crossing, 400km east from Broome.
It took time, but eventually he told me his story, revealing a slew of allegations about Bishop Saunders.
He was deeply embarrassed and didn’t want to have to make such confessions, but he wanted justice.
He’d been to the police, made an official complaint and given a statement, but nothing had happened.
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse – Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders (right) at the commission.
Screengrab from Video Credit: Unknown/Royal Commission into Institutio
Fr Purnell then pointed me to a second young Indigenous man. He didn’t know the first, but his allegations were remarkably similar.
Why were the police not doing anything?
Police sources I spoke to confirmed they’d launched an investigation, it was called Operation White Plane, but they were struggling. They just didn’t think the Indigenous complainants would hold up in a courtroom under the high-pressure questions of a highly-paid barrister.
Frustrated locals referred to Operation White Plane as White Wash.
It went nowhere; the inquiry had stalled.
There was no satisfaction from church authorities either. Everyone I spoke to about this story told a similar tale: the Catholic Church was sticking its head in the sand.
Four past and present members of the Bishop’s own staff, civil and religious, had made direct complaints to the Archbishop in Perth and to the Catholic Church Professional Standards Office in Canberra.
They told me Archbishop Tim Costelloe didn’t even acknowledge receipt of the letters.
Former Broome bishop Christopher Saunders at Broome Magistrates Court. Credit: Natasha Clark/Broome Advertiser
Multiple Church public relations staff kept repeating their claim that they could do nothing while a police investigation was afoot.
It wasn’t until we finally broadcast our report on March 11, 2020, that the church finally moved. The Vatican itself ordered an internal inquiry; Saunders was forced to step down.
But the victory was short-lived.
Not long after, the police inquiry had essentially collapsed; no charges laid. And results of the church inquiry were never made public.
Despite being ordered to stand down, and even to leave the diocese, Saunders remained and was even seen performing mass, christenings and funerals.
The key moment came out of the blue, when Pope Francis ordered the full weight of a Vatican investigation — called a Vos Estis Lux Mundi (You Are The Light of the World).
It was a first in Australian Catholic history; and it took six months. The finished 200-page report was forwarded to Rome.
And there it sat for another six months.
Until someone got frustrated enough with the delay, to send me a copy.
The Bishop was described as “a sexual predator” who had sought to “prey upon” young and vulnerable Aboriginal men.
Four victims were identified and a further 67 listed as targets of possible grooming.
The report cited evidence he’d spent hundreds of thousands on the young men and had a secure safe containing $80,000 in cash.
It also revealed he’d use the diocese plane to transport large quantities of liquor to dry Aboriginal communities.
There was fury that the Church had sat inactive on the report for so long.
WA Premier Roger Cook called on the church to immediately hand a copy to the Police. At first they resisted, but within days capitulated.
Christopher Saunders arrives at the Perth District Court. Credit: Iain Gillespie/The West Australian
It was the catalyst for an extraordinary investigation by Detective Sergeant Andrew Broadley and his team with the Child Sex Squad. They were relentless.
At one point, even taking the unprecedented step of installing secret surveillance cameras inside the Bishop’s home. They provided priceless evidence.
Saunders went into the Perth District Court facing 26 charges and three complainants.
It can now be revealed that there were also three counts of indecent dealing with a child under 13, and one count of sexual penetration of a child under 13.
For various reasons, those charges were dropped on the first day of the trial. Another seven were wiped as the trial neared its end.
Some observers started to doubt the case would stand; it appears the jury disagreed.
They returned their verdict within seven hours; guilty on 13 charges, including rape.
I broke the news in an interview with whistleblower Cherrille Quilty minutes later; she burst into tears.
Saunders made no application for bail and was remanded in custody.
A sentencing hearing on September 21 will determine if he stays there.
