CHRISTIANNEWS.COM.- Hillsong has defended itself against the allegations of rape and assault that were made to the church, in the latest episode of the Australian current affairs program 60 Minutes.
On the show aired Sunday, a woman using the alias “Katherine” said she was raped by a Hillsong member when she stayed late to help pack up after a Bible study, Christian Today reports.
“I had no reason to think that I was not going to be safe. He was really violent. He was completely filled with anger, rage and hate. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. That was the only sexual experience I had and it wasn’t consensual and I just wanted to pretend it didn’t happen,” Katherine said.
Katherine also reported that she reported her abuser, but Hillsong did nothing about it. “I want my abuser to never have the opportunity to do that to another person again. And I want Hillsong to be held accountable for doing nothing,” she explained.
Anna Crenshaw also told the show that she was sexually assaulted by Hillsong’s married administrator, Jason Mays, at a social gathering in 2016.
Last year, Mays was sentenced to two years’ probation by a Sydney court after admitting to indecent but kept his job at Hillsong.
Hillsong statement on the matter
In a recent statement, Hillsong defended its decision to keep him on staff.
“There are several reasons why Jason Mays was given another chance to stay on staff, including comments from the magistrate who chose not to record a conviction. He asserted the ‘low-level objective severity of the offence’ and acknowledged that it occurred in the presence of several other individuals who did not fully corroborate his version of events,” Hillsong said.
“Jason was given a two-year good conduct bond for ‘assault with indecent act’ (not sexual assault), including strict requirements that he has diligently complied with,” they noted.
Finally, they described the statements of the 60 Minutes program as, “journalism that is factually incorrect, sensationalist, unbalanced and highly unethical. Hillsong Church takes any allegation of sexual assault very seriously and our policy is to report the allegation to the police,” the statement concluded.
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