An Australian appeals court dismissed Cardinal George Pell’s appeal of his conviction on child sex abuse charges in a 2-1 decision revealed Tuesday evening.
Pell, a former senior Vatican official, is expected to appeal the ruling to Australia’s High Court, according to the Catholic News Service. The case centers on Pell’s conviction for molesting two choirboys more than 20 years ago.
He is expected to appeal.
— Catholic News Service (@CatholicNewsSvc) August 20, 2019
Australian Cardinal George Pell’s appeal of his conviction on 5 counts of child sexual abuse was reviewed by a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Judges said witnesses had a “ring of truth” and there was general consistency in their testimonies.
— Catholic News Service (@CatholicNewsSvc) August 20, 2019
Pell was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison in March on charges that he orally raped a 13-year-old choirboy. He is also alleged to have performed other indecent acts with that boy and his 13-year-old friend in Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996 and 1997. He has been in prison since his conviction.
Pell appealed the ruling, and the Victoria state Court of Appeal heard arguments in June. The appeals court could also have overturned the convictions or ordered a retrial.
Pell’s attorneys have called the 1996 events “improbable and even impossible” because they allegedly occurred in a part of the cathedral where others would have likely witnessed the events.
One of the choirboys whom Pell allegedly abused died of a heroin overdose in 2014 without claiming he was abused. Pell has labeled the allegations “absolutely disgraceful rubbish.”
Earlier this month, Pell wrote a letter expressing his continued faith.
“My faith in our Lord, like yours, is a source of strength,” Pell wrote.
Prison authorities are investigating whether the letter’s circulation among the public breached prison rules.
In a scathing analysis of the case, Fr. Raymond J. de Souza, a prominent Catholic columnist, characterized Pell’s prosecution as “a monstrous miscarriage of justice, a religious persecution carried out by prosecutorial means.”
