Child sex cover-up: Oz PM calls on archbishop to resign

Canberra: Australia's prime minister on Wednesday called on an Australian archbishop to resign after becoming the most senior Roman Catholic cleric to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was sentenced in a Newcastle court on Tuesday to 12 months in detention for failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by a pedophile priest in the Hunter Valley region north of Sydney during the 1970s.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was born a Presbyterian but converted to Catholicism his wife's religion in 2002, said he was surprised that Wilson had not resigned when he was convicted in May.

"I'm surprised that he has not resigned. Clearly, given the outcome of the ... prosecution, he should resign," Turnbull told reporters. The Adelaide Archdiocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

The 67-year-old cleric stood down from his position as archbishop days after he was convicted in May. He has not said whether he will appeal, but said he was discussing the verdict with his lawyers.