AUSTRALIA
The Age
Beau Donelly
Explosive claims of child sex abuse have been levelled against Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic official, Cardinal George Pell.
A soon-to-be-released book about Cardinal Pell contains detailed claims that he sexually abused two choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the late 1990s.
The book, Cardinal: The Rise And Fall of George Pell, also contains new information about the child abuse cover-up within the church, including allegations that he knew about paedophile priests earlier than he claimed.
It is written by ABC journalist Louise Milligan, who revealed historic sex abuse allegations against Cardinal Pell in a 2016 report for the 7.30 program.
Earlier this year, Milligan and her colleague Andy Burns won the Melbourne Press Club’s Gold Quill for their report.
Milligan interviewed two men, Lyndon Monument and Damian Dignan, who claimed they were sexually assaulted by Cardinal Pell, then a priest, at Ballarat’s Eureka Pool in the late 1970’s.
Police confirmed earlier this year that a brief of evidence against Cardinal Pell had been returned to the Office of Public Prosecutions for consideration.
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