Former Hillsong pastor Brian Houston has pleaded not guilty to hiding his father's child abuse. Photo: Getty Images
By Hugh Hogan
A sexual assault victim has told a Sydney court Hillsong founder Brian Houston knew about a $10,000 cheque which the man believed was "for his silence".
On Monday, a special fixture for Houston began before Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court.
Houston is accused of allegedly covering up his father's abuse of a young boy.
The 68-year-old had pleaded not guilty to a charge of concealing a serious indictable offence by another person.
The court heard his father, Frank Houston, was accused of sexually assaulting a seven-year-old boy in Coogee in the 1970s while he was visiting from New Zealand.
The Crown alleges documents show Brian Houston learnt of the allegations in late 1999, when he was a senior minister within a Pentecostal church.
Prosecutors say Houston had a legal requirement to report the claims to police, but attempted to resolve the matter internally.
The court has heard Frank Houston was defrocked as a minister shortly after the allegations came to light, and retired from the church before dying in 2004.
Brian Houston argues the victim did not want to go to police, and that presented a reasonable excuse for him not to report the matter to authorities.
Giving evidence, alleged victim, Brett Sengstock, said he signed a dirty napkin in a McDonald's car park for $10,000 after meeting with Frank Houston in the late 1990's.
"It was for my silence I've got no doubt at all."
Sengstock told the court he contacted Brian Houston shortly after, who allegedly told him he would be receiving the money.
"And several weeks later a cheque turned up for ten thousand dollars," he said.
"Quite frankly, I was paid for my silence."
Sengstock told the court in the same phone call, Brian Houston accused him of tempting his father.
"He said to me this is all your fault ... you tempted my father," Sengstock told the court.
Houston's barrister, Phillip Boulten SC, told the court "many, many, many people" knew of the allegations before Brian Houston, and tens of thousands of people became aware after media reporting.
Sengstock told the court he was seven years old the first night Frank Houston abused him in his family home in Sydney's east.
Sengstock said it took him several years before he told his mother about the incident.
Sengstock told the court that his family was heavily involved in a Pentecostal church called the Assemblies of God and claimed he felt "indoctrinated".
"I felt I was under moral and spiritual control of Frank Houston and the church," he said.
He also said Frank Houston repeatedly called him in the late 1990s to offer compensation.
"It was for my silence, I've got no doubt at all," he said.
"The narrative I understood was keep quiet, we will deal with this within the church."
The hearing continues tomorrow.
- ABC