Cardinal could face fresh sex charges

AUSTRALIA: Cardinal George Pell may face fresh charges after a sensational development during his committal hearing.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard yesterday that a witness, who was due to face crossexamination, had supplied a new statement to police on Monday evening.

Pell, 76, faces multiple historical sexual offence charges involving multiple complainants. Details of the charges are yet to be revealed. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.

The new statement is understood to contain further allegations against him.

Pell’s barrister, Robert Richter, QC, said the ‘‘troubling’’ statement put his legal team in an ‘‘invidious’’ position and would not allow them to have the opportunity to properly cross-examine the witness. They argued that it should not be considered during the committal hearing.

‘‘Whether charges are to be laid or not … it should not be part of this committal at this stage,’’ Richter told the court.

He said the statement was ‘‘problematic’’, and argued that it should instead be included in another later hearing if charges were to proceed, once his legal team had been given time to investigate the claims.

‘‘We’ve not had any time do investigation,’’ he said.

The witness had been called to give evidence to answer questions about an earlier statement he had provided to police which placed Pell at a location at the time an alleged sexual offence is claimed to have occurred.

Richter requested that the witness’s first statement be removed from the police brief of evidence and that he no longer be called to give evidence at the hearing.

– Fairfax