PELL LOSES APPEAL AGAINST SEX ABUSE CASES
BEIJING: Former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell will remain in prison for at least another three years after losing an appeal against his conviction for sexually abusing two 13-year-old choir boys, an Australian court ruled on Wednesday. Pell, the highest ranking Catholic worldwide to be convicted of child sex offences, was jailed for six years in March after being found guilty on five charges of abusing the two boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in the late 1990s.
MELBOURNE: Former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell will remain in prison for at least another three years after losing an appeal against his conviction for sexually abusing two 13-yearold choir boys, an Australian court ruled on Wednesday.
Pell, the highest ranking Catholic worldwide to be convicted of child sex offences, was jailed for six years in March after being found guilty on five charges of abusing the two boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral while he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the late 1990s. Supreme Court of Victoria Chief Justice Anne Ferguson said two of the three judges hearing Pell’s appeal “decided that it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Cardinal Pell was guilty of the offences charged” and rejected his appeal.
Under the terms of his sentencing, Pell will be eligible for parole in October 2022, when he will be 81. Pell sat quietly in the court with no discernible expression as Ferguson read the judgment.