Cardinal Pell had ‘plain vanilla' sex with victim and that should mitigate prison sentence, lawyer says

Type of protection : Granting release

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Category: Paedophile Pell

Created: Tuesday, 26 February 2019 22:46

Written by AAP

MELBOURNE, Australia — The most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex abuse was sent to prison on Wednesday and will wait two weeks to learn his sentence for attacking two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral two decades ago.

Victorian state County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd revoked Cardinal George Pell’s bail at the end of a sentencing hearing in a packed, standing room-only courtroom. Kidd said he would deliver his sentence on March 13.

The 77-year-old Pell, who could face 50 years in prison, showed no expression as he walked from the dock with a cane escorted by three court security officers and a prison guard. Pell paused at the door, turned to the judge and bowed.

George Pell’s defence torn to shreds by judges

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Category: Paedophile Pell

Created: Wednesday, 21 August 2019 22:38

Written by Alexis Carey - news.com.au

George Pell loses appeal over child sexual abuse ruling

The Pell legacy: lessons for cops, courts and all those who serve God and justice

Type of protection : Granting release

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Category: Paedophile Pell

Created: Monday, 11 May 2020 19:51

Written by David Hardaker - Crikey

Our journalism usually sits behind a paywall, but we believe this is the time to make more of our content freely available to as many readers as possible.

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when a priest was the first person you would believe. Now? Not so much.

The royal commission into, among others, the Catholic Church and Cardinal George Pell, has killed that off. Then-prime minister Julia Gillard’s decision to bring it on in 2012 triggered an eight-year unravelling which reached its endpoint with the judges of the High Court and the royal commission now delivering their final verdicts.

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George Pell freed from prison after High Court quashes child sex abuse convictions

Type of protection : Granting release

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Category: Paedophile Pell

Created: Tuesday, 07 April 2020 01:34

Written by Kate McKenna and Sarah Farnsworth - ABC News

George Pell was driven to a church property in Melbourne's inner east after his release from Barwon Prison.

Cardinal George Pell has been driven from prison to a church property in Melbourne's inner east after the nation's highest court quashed his child sexual abuse convictions.

• Key points:

  • The High Court of Australia granted Cardinal Pell's application for special leave and unanimously acquitted him
  • The judges found that given the evidence, the jury ought to have entertained a doubt as to Cardinal Pell's guilt
  • In a statement, Cardinal Pell said the High Court's decision had remedied a "serious injustice"
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Comments on the High Court judgment Pell v The Queen, from the Law Council of Australia President, Ms Pauline Wright

Type of protection : Granting release

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Category: Paedophile Pell

Created: Wednesday, 08 April 2020 01:26

Written by Ms Pauline Wright - Law Council of Australia

All comments to be attributed to Law Council of Australia President, Ms Pauline Wright.

We are mindful that the High Court judgment in the matter of Pell v The Queen has caused significant media interest and community discussion. The Law Council respects the determination of the High Court in the matter of Pell v The Queen.

The High Court is the ultimate decision-maker within our judicial system in Australia and its job is to impartially scrutinise decisions made in lower courts to determine whether the law has been properly applied.

Judge rules ‘significant possibility’ Cardinal George Pell didn’t commit child sex offences

Type of protection : Granting release

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Category: Paedophile Pell

Created: Tuesday, 20 August 2019 19:18

Written by Alecomm2

By a majority of two to one, Victoria’s Supreme Court dismissed Pell’s appeal ordering him to “return to prison”.

 

Stephanie Bedonews.com.au

As Cardinal George Pell sat in court surrounded by his supporters, there was at least one man in the room on their side.

Justice Mark Weinberg was the only one to rule in the disgraced Catholic leader’s favour, finding the complainant’s account of his sexual abuse was “entirely implausible and quite unconvincing” and may have even been concocted.

Pell lost his bid for freedom from a six-year jail sentence when his appeal against child sex convictions was dismissed in court this morning.

By a majority of two to one, Victoria’s Supreme Court dismissed the appeal ordering Pell to “return to prison”.

In reading out the court’s conclusions for rejecting the appeal, Chief Justice Anne Ferguson outlined Justice Weinberg’s reasoning.

While she said she and Justice Chris Maxwell accepted the prosecution’s submission the complainant was a compelling witness and clearly not a liar, Judge Weinberg did not agree.

“In his dissenting judgment, the judge found that at times, the complainant was inclined to embellish aspects of his account,” she told the court this morning.

“He concluded that his evidence contained discrepancies, displayed inadequacies so as to cause him to have a doubt as to the applicant’s guilt.

“He could not exclude as a reasonable possibility that some of what the complainant said was concocted, particularly in relation to the second incident.”

RELATED: Judges tear apart Pell’s 13 excuses

RELATED: Cheering as Pell’s freedom bid rejected

Justice Mark Weinberg was in favour of George Pell’s appeal. Picture: Supreme Court of Victoria Source: AAPChief Justice Anne Ferguson read out the judges’ decision this morning. Picture: Supreme Court of Victoria Source: AAP

Pell was found guilty of raping one choirboy and molesting another in Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral 22 years ago.

Pell’s victims were two 13-year-old boys on scholarships to the prestigious St Kevin’s College.

The original court was told how the pair “nicked off” after a Sunday solemn mass in December 1996 and were caught swigging sacramental wine in the sacristy — a room at the rear of the cathedral used by priests to dress — by Pell, who was the newly installed Archbishop of Melbourne.

Pell scolded them and then proceeded to expose his penis from beneath his ceremonial robes before molesting them.

One of the victims, now in his 30s, brought the allegations to police after years of having struggled to understand what he’d experienced.

A month or so after Pell raped him, he was sexually assaulted by Pell again when he pushed him against a cathedral wall and fondled his genitalia.

Justice Chris Maxwell shared Justice Ferguson’s view. Picture: Supreme Court of Victoria Source: AAPPell arriving at court this morning. Picture: Erik Anderson/AAP Source: AAP

This morning Justice Ferguson said Justice Weinberg found the complainant’s account of the second incident was entirely implausible and quite unconvincing.

“Nevertheless, Justice Weinberg stated that in relation to the first incident, if the complainant’s evidence was the only evidence, he might well have found it difficult to say that the jury, acting reasonably, were bound to have a reasonable doubt about the Cardinal’s guilt,” she said.

“He went on to note, however, that there was more than just the complainant’s evidence.

“In Justice Weinberg’s view, there was significant and in some places impressive evidence

suggesting that the complainant’s account was, in a realistic sense, impossible to accept.”

She said the judge believed there was a “significant possibility” Pell may not have committed the offences.

“Justice Weinberg stated that in his view, the convictions could not stand,” she said.

“Nevertheless, the appeal on the unreasonableness ground has been dismissed because two of us took a different view of the facts.”

Source : https://amp.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/judge-rules-significant-possibility-cardinal-george-pell-didnt-commit-child-sex-offences/news-story/063bbf4bdb10b367241144f665408147