Brian Houston case deferred until 2022

Brian Houston denies concealing information about his father's abuse. (Photo: Hillsong)

The court case in Sydney against Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston has been delayed until next year.

Australian website Eternity News reports that a local court deferred his case until 27 January 2022 when the date of his full trial is due to be announced.

Houston has pleaded not guilty via his lawyer.

New South Wales police charged Houston in August with concealing information about sexual abuse committed by his father in the 1970s.

The charge followed a two-year police investigation.

The elder Houston abused a number of children in his native New Zealand, but the case before the court concerns the abuse of Australian survivor Brian Sengstock as a young boy.

In a statement in July, Brian Houston insisted that he did not find out about his father's abuse until 30 years after the event and that he was honouring the victim's "multiple requests not to inform the police".

"The law at the time granted an exception to reporting a crime of this nature when a person had a reasonable excuse not to report," Houston claimed.

"This state law has since further clarified that this type of situation - when an adult victim of child abuse explicitly does not want the matter reported - qualified as a reasonable excuse under the law."

News
Trump's AI 'Jesus' blunder
Trump's AI 'Jesus' blunder

Has the row over Donald Trump’s ‘Christ-like’ image been fuelled by misunderstanding and unrealistic expectations about his alleged Christian faith?

Bethel Church announces governance review after sexual abuse allegations
Bethel Church announces governance review after sexual abuse allegations

Months after Bethel Church announced Pastor Ben Armstrong had been placed on administrative leave, the church says it is bringing in additional third-party oversight and has confirmed the firm leading an independent investigation into sexual abuse allegations against the longtime ministry leader.

Faith communities have always served the whole person - it is time funders did the same
Faith communities have always served the whole person - it is time funders did the same

Ethnic minority communities struggle to access funding but a church-backed initiative is seeking to change that.

Indian law could block foreign aid to missionaries, seize church properties
Indian law could block foreign aid to missionaries, seize church properties

Christianity faces an increasingly hostile environment in India.