Senior catholic cardinal George Pell has been jailed for six years after being found guilty of sexually abusing choir boys. Abuse survivors and their supporters travelled from regional areas to witness the sentencing of Cardinal George Pell this morning.
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. After the sentence was passed, stony-faced Pell signed some paperwork and bowed before being escorted out of court to jail by five corrections officers.
Some in court embraced while police outside were given three cheers by sex abuse victims. Pell’s surviving victim, who testified and was cross-examined at the trial, issued a statement through his solicitor saying he found it hard to take comfort in the verdict; “Being a witness in a criminal case has not been easy. I am doing my best to hold myself and my family together.”