Archbishop pleads not guilty to concealing child abuse

SYDNEY: An archbishop in the Australian city of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, pleaded not guilty in court Thursday to concealing child abuse in the Catholic Church, media reports said.
Police allege that Wilson concealed a child sexual abuse allegation made against a fellow priest in the 1970s when Wilson was an assistant parish priest in the east Australian town of Maitland.
Wilson is one of the most senior Catholic clerics in the world to be charged with concealing child abuse.
The defendant did not appear in court himself but was represented by his lawyer Simon Buchen, the Newcastle Herald newspaper reported.
The court adjourned the case until June 17.
Wilson previously told reporters the charge was misconceived.
Jim Fletcher, the priest who allegedly abused a 10-year-old boy in the 1970s, has since died. – dpa