Aussie bishop sentenced to 12-month detention for sex abuse cover-up

In this image grabbed from video, Archbishop Philip Wilson (center) heads to Newcastle Local Court, north of Sydney, Australia on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. The Australian archbishop, who was the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the world charged with covering up child sex abuse, was convicted Tuesday. He is now sentenced to 12 months detention. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)

NEWCASTLE, Australia — The most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse has been sentenced in an Australian court to one year in detention.

Newcastle Magistrate Robert Stone on Tuesday ordered Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson to serve at least 6 months before he is eligible for parole.

But Wilson will not immediately go into custody. Stone will consider on August 14 whether Wilson is suitable for home detention.

In May, Stone found the 67-year-old cleric guilty in the Newcastle Local Court of failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by pedophile priest James Fletcher in the Hunter Valley region north of Sydney during the 1970s. Wilson faced a potential maximum sentence of two years in prison.  /kga