Police say detectives are in Broome investigating historic child abuse allegations, amid media reports a former Catholic bishop’s home has been raided.

February 8, 2024

Child abuse squad detectives have travelled to a popular holiday town as part of an investigation into historic sex offences.

Police have searched the Western Australian home of the former Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders for a second time.

Premier Roger Cook said detectives were investigating “some very grievous allegations”.

“The fact that they’re back there today really just demonstrates how seriously they take these accusations,” he said on Thursday.

“We’re really pleased that they are providing resources that are getting on top of that situation.”

The same property was searched by police on January 15. The visits come several months after the Catholic Church handed detectives a report detailing allegations of sexual assault and grooming against the veteran cleric.

The Vatican report found Bishop Saunders hosted “bunga bunga” parties at church properties in Broome, the Seven Network previously reported.

He also allegedly spent thousands of dollars in church money on cash payments, mobile phones, alcohol and cigarettes.

The Vatican identified 67 Indigenous boys and young men who may have been subjected to sexual assault or grooming.

Police are understood to have reopened an investigation into the former bishop after receiving the report.

Bishop Saunders has previously denied the allegations and has not been charged by police.

He resigned from his role in Broome in 2020 after sexual misconduct and bullying claims emerged.

The church previously said Bishop Saunders refused to leave the Broome diocese during its internal investigation and he also chose not to participate in questioning.

Its 200-page Vos Estis Lux Mundi investigation found Bishop Saunders developed a “modus operandi” of grooming young Indigenous men for sex during his time in the Kimberley region.

It also interviewed witnesses who described the bishop as being “a wonderful orator and strong leader” but also a sexual predator preying on vulnerable ­Indigenous boys and young men.

The report was also critical of the WA police’s previous investigation into the bishop’s alleged offending and the decision not to press criminal charges due to difficulties in establishing the ages of victims at the time of the alleged offending.

WA Police has previously said it carried out two investigations into a number of complaints regarding a member of the Catholic Church in the Kimberley between 2018 and 2020.

It said there was insufficient evidence to lay criminal charges.