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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Ben Doherty

Mother of man raped by preacher Frank Houston asked son not to reveal ‘sordid mess’, court hears

Frank Houston Brett Sengstock Brian Houston Phillip Boulten SC Barbara Taylor Police Hillsong Sydney
Former Hillsong pastor Brian Houston arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
Former Hillsong pastor Brian Houston arrives at the Downing centre local court in Sydney. He has pleaded not guilty to one charge of concealing a serious indictable offence of another person. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

The mother of the man who was raped as a child by pentecostal preacher Frank Houston “tried to dissuade” her son from publicly revealing the “sordid mess”, a Sydney court has heard.

Another relative – a senior church pastor – told him he would be supported if he kept his complaint within the church but if he went to “the secular courts” he would be abandoned.

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