Prosecutors Seek Long Prison Term for Cardinal Pell in Sex-Abuse Case

By Robb M. Stewart
Wall Street Journal
February 27, 2019

https://on.wsj.com/2Hcrobn

Vatican’s former finance chief was found guilty of sexually abusing two choirboys in Australia decades ago

Prosecutors sought a lengthy prison term for the Vatican’s former finance chief, Cardinal George Pell, who was taken into custody Wednesday to await sentencing after he was found guilty of sexually abusing two choirboys in Australia decades ago.

Later in the day, the Vatican announced the start of a process that could lead to the cardinal’s dismissal from the priesthood.

At a hearing, Chief Judge Peter Kidd revoked Cardinal Pell’s bail following a conviction in December on five counts of sex abuse and said sentencing would take place in two weeks. After bowing to the judge, Cardinal Pell was escorted from the courtroom to be taken to Melbourne Assessment Prison.

Each of the charges carries a maximum sentence of a decade in prison. Prosecutors have argued against each sentence being served concurrently, despite Cardinal Pell’s advanced age of 77 years. Cardinal Pell, the most senior Vatican official ever to stand trial on sex-abuse charges, continues to maintain his innocence and is appealing the conviction.

On Wednesday, defense attorney Robert Richter urged the judge to take Cardinal Pell’s age into account, along with his history of cardiac problems. He also said Cardinal Pell’s position as Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic in a church enveloped in years of abuse scandals would make him a target in prison.

Judge Kidd rejected a defense argument that Cardinal Pell’s offenses amounted to lesser examples of sexual abuse. “I see this as callous, brazen offending…[involving] a degree of impunity,” he said.

A jury of 12 men and women in December found Cardinal Pell guilty of four counts of an indecent act with or in front of a child under 16 and one count of sexual penetration of a minor. His accuser said the attack occurred in late 1996, just months after the priest became Archbishop of Melbourne, in the city’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Cardinal Pell’s conviction was made public on Tuesday after prosecutors dropped a second case involving allegations of child sex abuse dating back to the late 1970s in his hometown diocese. The decision to withdraw those charges led Judge Kidd to lift orders against reporting details of the charges or trial. The Vatican later said the cardinal had been placed under restrictions by the Catholic Church.

On Wednesday, the Vatican spokesman said the Vatican’s doctrinal office, which has responsibility for disciplining clergy guilty of sex abuse, would “now handle the case following the procedure and within the time established by canonical norm.”

According to church law, reports of sex abuse trigger a preliminary investigation to determine if a church trial is warranted. Cardinal Pell could eventually be punished by dismissal from the priesthood, commonly known as defrocking.

Earlier this month, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington became the first U.S. cardinal in history—and possibly the first cardinal globally—to be defrocked, after a church trial found him guilty of sexual abuse of minors and sexual misconduct with adults.