Police investigating Cardinal George Pell child abuse allegations: report

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Emily Woods

Police are investigating child-abuse allegations against Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, the ABC has reported.

The allegations have now been referred by Victoria Police to the Office of Public Prosecutions for advice, the ABC reports.

The ABC’s 7.30 program has revealed that Taskforce Sano has been examining allegations from complainants in Ballarat, Torquay and Melbourne for more than a year, and is looking into incidents that allegedly happened during Cardinal Pell’s time as Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s.

The program has obtained eight police statements from complainants, witnesses and family members who are helping the taskforce with its investigation. The allegations were repeated on 7.30 on Wednesday night, and include:

* that Cardinal Pell would touch the genitals of children while swimming in a public pool in Ballarat in the late ’70s
* that he was naked in the change rooms on a regular basis in front of children
* that he exposed himself to three young children in another change room, at the Torquay Surf Club in 1986 or 1987.

Cardinal Pell vehemently denied the allegations, with his office saying he “emphatically and unequivocally rejects any allegations of sexual abuse against him”.

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