Cardinal Pell to face trial over ‘historic sex assault’

CARDINAL George Pell, the most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis, must stand trial on sexual assault charges, a court has ruled.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington dismissed some of the charges that had been heard in the four-week preliminary hearing in Melbourne, but decided the prosecution’s case against Pell was strong enough to warrant a trial by jury. When she asked the cardinal how he pleaded, he said: “Not guilty.”

Lawyers for Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic had argued the accusations were untrue and should be dismissed.

Pell, Pope Francis’ former finance minister, was charged last June with sexually abusing multiple people in his Australian home state of Victoria.

The details of the allegations against the 76-year-old have yet to be released to the public, although police have described the charges as “historical” sexual assault offences.

His alleged victims testified in the first two weeks of the preliminary hearing via a video link to a room closed to the media and public.

His lawyer, Robert Richter, told Wallington in his final submissions two weeks ago that the complainants might have testified against one of the Church’s most powerful men to punish him for failing to act against abuse by clerics.

But prosecutor Mark Gibson told the magistrate there was no evidence to back Richter’s theory.