‘Brazen’ acts: Ex-Vatican adviser is sent to prison
Cardinal George Pell, once the Vatican’s third-most powerful official, was sent to prison in Australia on Wednesday pending formal sentencing for sexually abusing a pair of 13year-old choirboys in what the judge called “callous, brazen” acts.
Victorian state County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd revoked Pell’s bail at the end of a hearing. Kidd said he would deliver his sentence March 13.
The judge said Pell was guilty of a breach of trust with an element of brutality and had a sense of impunity.
“I see this as callous, brazen offend- ing – blatant,” he said. “At the time, he thought he was going to get away with it. Otherwise he wouldn’t have done it. The Catholic Church is not on trial . ... I’m imposing sentence on Cardinal Pell for what he did.”
Pell’s lawyer, Robert Richter, described the abuse as a “temporary loss of judgment” in response to an “irresistible impulse.”
Pell, 77, who maintains his innocence and has appealed the verdict, faces up to 50 years in prison. He was convicted of abusing the boys in a cathedral in the 1990s when he was archbishop of Melbourne. The verdict was reached in December but only became public this week when the court lifted its gag order.
Pell was remanded to the Melbourne Assessment Prison pending formal sentencing, Vatican News reports.
The announcement of the conviction came days after Pope Francis wrapped up the first-ever Vatican summit on sex abuse, where more than 175 bishops discussed the clergy scandal and how better to respond to victims.
Francis confirmed that “precautionary measures” already imposed on Pell would remain, said Alessandro Gisotti of the Holy See Press Office.