77 years old Cardinal George Pell has been jailed for six years for sexually abusing two teenage choirboys in the 1990s. He was found guilty of orally raping a 13 year old choirboy and molesting another at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne after a Sunday mass.
A former top adviser to Pope Francis, he is the most senior Catholic to be convicted for child sex offences. He stared directly at a judge while he learned his fate.In remarks broadcast live around the world from Melbourne County Court, Chief Judge Kidd called Pell’s crimes breathtakingly arrogant and said the abuse has caused long-term and serious harm.
The judge also took into account Pell’s ailing health as he suffers from high blood pressure and congestive heart failure which requires him to have a pacemaker. Since the disgraced cardinal still denies the abuse and is appealing the conviction, Judge Kidd said he had shown ‘no remorse or contrition’ which could have reduced the sentence.
Pell, who was until late February the Vatican’s treasurer and once considered a pope in waiting, will be on the sex offender register for the rest of his life.