When pressed by the judge, Boulten admitted that turned out to be convenient for Brian Houston, allowing him to protect his church and his father’s reputation. “Just because it was convenient for [the abuse] not to be prosecuted,” said Boulten, “my client is not without reasonable excuse. Brett Sengstock said he did not want [the abuse] to be reported.”
The attorney added that Houston did speak out about his father’s behavior, “first to his family, then to the elders or board members of the…congregations.” Boulten said his client told his father, “You’ll never go back to Hillsong; you are going to be decredentialed.”
Boulten emphasized that this case “is not judgment about Hillsong” but rather “a criminal trial with a particular charge against a particular person, and it is not enough for the prosecution to say, ‘He’s responsible for everything that happened.’”
