South Australian Man Charged with Sacrilege
Sacrilege is still a crime, at least in South Australia.
A man was charged with the offence today after he allegedly broke into a church in the early hours of the morning.
Police were called to a Murray Bridge church around 3am when an alarm went off.
A man was allegedly found inside the place of worship, and in possession of “scripture books” that belonged to the church.
The 25-year-old was refused bail.
Section 167 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) states that a person can be guilty of sacrilege and imprisoned for life.
It defines the offence as when a person …
"Breaks and enters into a place of divine worship and commits an offence”.
A man was charged with the same offence back in 2020 after he stole guitars from a church in Adelaide.
The law marks stealing from a place of worship as different and distinct to other thefts.
And it remains on the South Australian law books despite calls from the Rationalist Society for its removal.
It is unclear whether the law applies to religions other than Christianity.
He would have been lynched if it had been a mosque
It may be left to a judge to determine what is divine. Watch for a can of worms being opened on that one.