Hillsong agrees to settle assault lawsuit with woman

A woman who claims Hillsong Church breached its duty of care after she was indecently assaulted is on the verge of settling a lawsuit for ongoing psychiatric distress.

Anna Crenshaw was simultaneously suing the church, a college she attended at the time and the male church staff member who assaulted her, with a scheduled week-long hearing starting in the Supreme Court in Sydney on Monday.

Instead, soon after the hearing began the parties adjourned for several hours and returned having reached an undisclosed agreement.

"In principle the matter has resolved," Ms Crenshaw's lawyer Kelvin Andrews told the court.

Ex-church staff member Jason Mays previously pleaded guilty in Penrith Local Court to indecently assaulting Ms Crenshaw in 2016.

He was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded against his name.

"The claim against the church relates to how it responded to the report, including managing the plaintiff's welfare," Hillsong lawyer Gillian Mahoney told the court as the hearing began on Monday.

Mays' lawyer Angus Macinnis said there was some dispute over the exact nature of what occurred and the extent of the impact on Ms Crenshaw.

Mr Macinnis argued the assault offence Mays pleaded guilty to is separate from sexual assault.

He described Mays' assault on Ms Crenshaw as "single, fleeting, spontaneous", which he said would have bearing on the level of psychological injury incurred by her.

Mr Macinnis told the court Ms Crenshaw's initial account of the assault varied from later versions and was somewhat "less serious".

In an unrelated recent legal challenge facing Hillsong, church founder Brian Houston was cleared in 2023 of covering up abuse committed by his late father Frank Houston decades earlier.

When Mr Houston learned his father had abused a young boy, he confronted him personally and shared it among church leadership, but failed to report it to police.

In late 2022, Mr Houston pleaded not guilty to a charge of concealing a serious indictable offence, stemming from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Mr Houston argued he did not report his father's abuse to police because he did not believe the victim wanted that to happen.

A magistrate agreed Mr Houston was not criminally liable for not reporting the abuse, saying it was reasonable based on his understanding of the victim's wishes at the time.

Ms Crenshaw's case has been adjourned until Thursday while documents are prepared to formally resolve the matter.

She made no comment to media as she left court.

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