Cardinal George Pell Claims Innocence Despite Conviction On Child Sex Abuse Charges

UPDATE: 5:30 a.m. EST— Cardinal George Pell who was found guilty of sexually assaulting two boys under the age of 16 in 1996-97 will make a bail application in the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, according to his lawyers. He was listed to arrive at the County Court in Melbourne at 10 a.m. local time (6 p.m. EST, Tuesday).

Pell was convicted in December 2018 but his lawyers listed his case before the Court of Appeal for Wednesday where he will appear and apply for bail before two appeals judges at 2:30 p.m. His lawyer said if the Court of Appeal quashes the convictions, the case has a chance of going back for a retrial. After this, it would be up to prosecutors to decide whether to try the case again or not.

Original story:

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican treasurer and third most senior Catholic in the world, was convicted of five charges of child sexual assault in Australia. The verdict was delivered on Dec. 11, 2018 but was made public Tuesday after the court lifted a suppression order on the trial.

The trial began in August for five charges and it resulted in a hung jury. A judge declared a mistrial, leading to another trial where Pell was declared guilty. Pell was found guilty of sexually penetrating a child under the age of 16 along with four charges of an indecent act with a child under the age of 16. The offenses took place months after Pell was inaugurated as the archbishop of Melbourne in December 1996 and during the early days of 1997 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He was given an extended bail to allow him to go through a double knee surgery in December and it was extended since.

While Pell was leaving the court Tuesday, he was mobbed by several people who yelled “You’re going to burn in hell. Burn in hell, Pell.” He remained quiet and a statement released by his solicitor Paul Galbally said, “The cardinal has always maintained his innocence and continues to do so. An appeal has been lodged against his conviction and he will await the outcome of the appeal process.” Throughout the trial, Pell maintained his innocence and his defense team took all the efforts they could to prove his innocence.

Pell is the senior-most Catholic cleric ever charged with child sex abuse. He was convicted of molesting two choirboys almost immediately after a mass ceremony. While one of Pell’s victims died in 2014 from an overdose of heroin, the other victim was the one who gave evidence against him. The boy said they had separated from the choir procession as it left the building and made way to the priest's sacristy, where they were aware they shouldn’t have been. They found some of the sacramental wine and drank it when Pell walked in on them and insinuated that they were in trouble. After this, Pell allegedly lifted his robes and exposed his penis, he stepped forward and grabbed the other boy and forced his head on his penis, he then did the same thing to the other victim. Once he finished with that, he ordered one of the boys to remove his pants before he caressed his penis and masturbated himself.

Neither of the victims made a complaint against the archbishop even after he assaulted the victim a second time while he was walking down a hallway toward the choristers’ change room. After singing at a Sunday mass, the boy was making his way to the change room when Pell pushed him against a wall and squeezed his genitals through the robe before he walked away. The cardinal's lawyers claimed the robes couldn't be loosened the way the victim described and called it an "embellishment of fancy."

The victim's identity wasn't revealed due to the nature of the case.

The cardinal could face a potential 50-year prison after a sentencing hearing that will begin Wednesday. Each of the offenses carries a maximum of 10 years in jail. Pell’s lawyers filed an appeal against the verdict on three grounds, which might lead to a retrial.

Pell’s conviction comes at a time when the Catholic church tries to deal with a number of cases of child sexual abuse in the U.S., Chile, Germany and Australia.

Since December, the Vatican removed Pell from the group of Pope Francis’ close advisors and he took an indefinite leave in 2016 from his post as economy minister of the Vatican to fight the charges against him.

It may be noted that Pope Francis ended a conference on sexual abuse Sunday calling for an “all out battle” against such crimes that should be “erased from the face of the earth.”