00:01Put any feelings towards the Catholic Church aside,
00:05that was the clear direction to the jury
00:07as a former bishop stands accused of sex crimes.
00:11The defence for Christopher Allen Saunders
00:13says the 26 allegations simply did not happen.
00:18Adding the alleged victims all have extensive criminal records
00:21and years of substance abuse has affected their memory.
00:25The 76-year-old denies the allegations.
00:28The district court played footage
00:30from a hidden police camera inside the church house.
00:33It shows Mr Saunders and an Indigenous man, shirtless,
00:37sitting across from each other with their feet on each other's laps.
00:41This is not one of the alleged victims
00:43and there is no allegation of wrongdoing from the video.
00:46The state's suggesting it's relevant
00:48as it shows the former bishop's interactions with young men.
00:52Defence barrister Tony Hager saying his client
00:55is not on trial for unorthodox socialising.
00:58The first alleged victim testifying when he spoke to the bishop,
01:02their chairs were facing each other and sitting real close,
01:05saying the former bishop put the alleged victim's leg on his private.
01:09We can't name the alleged victim for legal reasons,
01:12but he says as a teenager he looked up to Mr Saunders,
01:16affectionately calling him Brother B.
01:18The prosecutor asked the man how play wrestling turned into alleged abuse.
01:23He says the bishop pressured him,
01:25saying something like,
01:26come on my brother, no one is going to find out.
01:29Did you want to kiss him?
01:31No, I didn't like it one bit.
01:33And later, why did you do that?
01:36Just to please him.
01:37He's the boss.
01:38The trial has been set down for three weeks.
01:41It is.
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