Church leaders accused of child abuse cover-up named in parliament

A senior pastor and his church have been accused of failing to disclose to the congregation a youth group leader’s child sex abuse, while the regulatory body in charge of investigating such abuse is alleged to have dismissed a complaint due to links to the church.

The claims, aired in parliament on Thursday by NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson, involved senior members of Maitland Evangelical Church. The allegations include a separate cover-up involving the abuse of a teenage girl in year 8 by a second offender.

“The victims and their families, as well as the wider community, have been failed by the lack of transparency from the leadership,” Higginson said in parliament.

Youth group leader Matthew Briggs was an “identified paedophile”. He frequently hosted sleepovers at his home for children from the church, Higginson said.

Briggs is now dead.

Pastor Roger Burgess, then a senior minister at the church, became aware of Briggs’ crimes immediately after his death. However, instead of informing the 500-member congregation, he told only a few attendees that Briggs had committed “extreme domestic violence”, Higginson said.

Burgess and Pastor Steven Doust also covered up the sexual abuse of the teenage girl, parliament heard.

When whistleblower and former congregation member Phil Bear publicly raised allegations about Briggs, he was demonised by Burgess, parliament heard.

Parliament also heard that, having learnt that Burgess was set to be promoted to the national director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches in 2023, Bear wrote a complaint to the church oversight body. The fellowship declined to investigate.

Bear then hired a lawyer, who contacted the Office of the Children’s Guardian, the NSW government body which oversees child protection complaints.

However, the pair were advised that the complaint was outside the office’s remit. The guardian’s investigator allegedly had links to the church.

“[The office] had a potential undeclared conflict of interest with the senior investigator at the Office of the Children’s Guardian allegedly being a former child protection officer for the Sydney Anglican diocese, a diocese with close connection to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches,” Higginson said.

“It is an offence for an adult to conceal child abuse offences and not to report such offences to the NSW Police Force.”

She called for the guardian to revoke the Working with Children Checks of Burgess and Doust, and to launch a full investigation into the allegations, the church and its national oversight body.

Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches national director Bruce Bennett denied the organisation had not adequately investigated Burgess nor the claims against Briggs.

“[The fellowship] sought an independent investigation to ensure the situation was handled with integrity and care [which] found that the church and its leaders met all legal and reporting requirements,” he said.

Bennett added the church had made a “deliberate effort” to follow the royal commission’s guidance about avoiding practices that might unintentionally retraumatise victims, and that the church consulted several independent professionals and followed their guidance.

“[The organisation] cares deeply about the safety and wellbeing of children and all vulnerable people in our churches. We grieve the harm that abuse causes,” he said.

Burgess was stood down in mid-2024 when the FIEC received a complaint, and placed in a part-time administrative role after the independent investigation concluded.

A spokesperson from the Office of the Children’s Guardian said there was no conflict of interest when handling Bear’s complaint.

“We are satisfied the matter was handled appropriately,” the spokesperson said.

“We encourage him to take his concerns to the NSW Ombudsman, who has the power to interrogate our records in connection with the matter.”

The spokesperson said legislation prevented the office from commenting further.

Support is available from Lifeline 13 11 14; Beyond Blue 1800 512 348; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; National Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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