During Houston's tenure as lead of Assemblies of God in New Zealand from 1965 to 1977, he abused many young boys in New Zealand and Australia. One victim in Sydney was routinely subjected to sexual abuse from the age of 7 to 12. In 1999, his mother reported the abuse to the church. At the time, Frank's son Brian Houston was the National President of the denomination Assemblies of God in Australia. Upon hearing the report of the sexual abuse, Brian Houston immediately dismissed his father, forcing Frank Houston to quietly resign from the Sydney Christian Life Centre with a pension. By November 2000, internal church investigations had discovered several additional cases of child abuse. Although Brian Houston and the Assemblies of God executive council were legally obligated to report the crimes, they did not do so. Frank Houston made a payment of AU$10,000 to his victim.