CARDINAL GEORGE PELL has lodged an appeal against his child sex abuse convictions in Australia’s High Court, in a last-ditch effort to clear his name.
It is the last avenue of appeal for the 78-year-old, who is serving a six-year sentence for sexually assaulting two choirboys in the 1990s.
An Australian jury unanimously found Pell guilty in December on one count of sexual abuse and four counts of indecent assault against two boys at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s.
Pell was accused of cornering the boys – then aged 12 and 13 – in the cathedral’s sacristy following Sunday mass and forcing them to perform a sex act on him.
He launched an appeal against his conviction in June. However, it was confirmed on 21 August that he had lost the appeal.
The cardinal has now lodged a fresh appeal against his convictions in Australia’s High Court.
There is no guarantee that the High Court will agree to consider Pell’s case. Australia’s most senior judges will now deliberate on whether to allow the appeal to proceed, a process that could take months.
With reporting by © – AFP 2019
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