Broome official withdraws reference for former bishop

A senior local government official in Western Australia’s north provided a character reference for the defence team of a disgraced former Catholic bishop ahead of his sentencing on a string of sexual assault offences, only to withdraw it after facing questions from the media.

This masthead can reveal Shire of Broome deputy president Desiree Male provided the defence team of ex-Broome bishop Christopher Saunders a letter ahead of his sentencing hearing last month after he was convicted in August of a number of sex charges against young Aboriginal men.

Saunders, 76, was convicted of 13 charges including sexual penetration without consent and unlawful and indecent assault against men who lived in the Broome diocese while he was the bishop. He was sentenced to 6½ years jail on Wednesday.

The former bishop was found guilty of having raped one man while he was drunk, and the court heard he was frequently holding shirts-off, alcohol-fuelled parties on Catholic Church-owned properties in a bid to groom and indecently assault the men.

During a sentencing hearing in September, Judge Martin Flynn detailed the submissions he had been given by Saunders’s team, including a letter from Male.

Male is a stalwart on the local council, having been first elected in 2009. She was elected shire president in 2023 after Harold Tracey stepped down, although she returned to the deputy shire president role a few months later after choosing not to contest the position at election.

This masthead first contacted Male about the letter she provided for the defence team on September 21, when her name was read out in court as part of the submissions. She did not respond to repeated requests from comment via phone, email and text message.

This masthead also contacted the Shire of Broome, and a spokesperson confirmed Male had provided the letter in a personal capacity, and the council would not comment further.

It is not known what the exact content of Male’s letter was, but Flynn said previously characterised the submissions as speaking to how Saunders had done good for the community while he was responsible for the Broome diocese.

Flynn ultimately determined on Wednesday he would not be taking any of the letters into account during sentencing, and went on to reveal Male had withdrawn her letter in the two weeks since the previous sentencing hearing.

“At the sentencing hearing I listed the letters your counsel had put before me from people who know you … the letter of Ms Male has been withdrawn, and that is not to be considered by me,” Flynn said on Wednesday.

“The offending I have described is not in keeping with the character those people knew well … in the end I give no weight to the evidence of good character.”

In August, the West Australian government announced reforms to the sentencing act to completely remove good character references for all offences.

At the time, Attorney General Tony Buti said the reforms were currently being drafted by prosecutors, counsel and with victim advocacy groups.

“I have had meetings with advocates for victim-survivors and heard how distressing it can be when a criminal’s professional standing and community reputation are used to try to reduce their sentence,” he said.

“This is particularly distressing in cases of child abuse and sexual assault when a perpetrator’s friends and colleagues may be unaware of the perpetrator’s sinister behaviour.

“This is important reform was already well advanced for child abuse cases, and expanding it to scrap character references for other sentencing hearings is an important next step.”

Father John Purnell, a former Kimberley-based priest and colleague of Saunders, said Male’s decision in the first place to provide a letter to be used by the defence during sentencing while still in a prominent position at the shire was “a kick in the teeth for the victims”.

“Male should be sacked, or she should resign from the council,” he said.

“It is a stupid decision, and it just a kick in the teeth for the victims.”

Cherrille Quilty is an ex-Broome local who worked as Saunders’ secretary. She also provided evidence for the prosecution case.

“I am shocked that given the severity of the charges that someone – especially a woman – would support a sexual predator,” she said.

While work on the government’s sentencing reforms had been ongoing for some time, they were announced soon after Western Power stood down three employees who provided glowing character references for a colleague who was convicted of raping a woman during a work trip.

The three employees who were stood down no longer work at the state-owned power utility.

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