Disgraced Cardinal Pell gets new day in court

BRISBANE (AUSTRALIA)
Agence France-Presse

April 2, 2020

Australia’s High Court said Thursday it will rule on Cardinal George Pell’s appeal against child sex abuse convictions on April 7, giving the senior cleric another chance to clear his name and leave jail.
The 78-year-old former Vatican treasurer is trying to overturn a six-year sentence for sexually assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s.

Pell, who once helped elect popes, is the highest-ranking Catholic Church official ever convicted of child sex crimes. He maintains his innocence.

Legal experts have struggled to predict the progression of the high-profile case, as it threw up one surprise after another.

Judges could yet deny Pell’s appeal, order a retrial or quash his conviction altogether.

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