Australia: High Court overturns Cardinal Pell's conviction

Cardinal Pell

Source: High Court of Australia/Victoria Police

Australia's High Court has just overturned Cardinal George Pell's conviction for child sexual abuse charges. The 78 year-old Cardinal will now immediately stop serving a six-year jail sentence.

In 2018, a jury found he had abused two boys in Melbourne in the 1990s. The conviction was upheld by a lower court last year. Cardinal Pell always maintained his innocence.

A full bench of seven judges at the High Court of Australia today quashed the original verdict, ruling unanimously in Cardinal Pell's favour. They found that the jury had not properly considered all the evidence presented at trial.

In its judgment the court said: "The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt...

"The unchallenged evidence of the opportunity witnesses was inconsistent with the complainant's account, and described: (i) the applicant's practice of greeting congregants on or near the cathedral steps after Sunday solemn mass; (ii) the established and historical Catholic church practice that required that the applicant, as an archbishop, always be accompanied when robed in the cathedral; and (iii) the continuous traffic in and out of the priests' sacristy for 10 to 15 minutes after the conclusion of the procession that ended Sunday solemn mass."

The court concluded that there was "a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof."

A Victoria police statement following the court's decisions reads: "We respect the decision of the high court in this matter and continue to provide support to those complainants involved. Victoria police remains committed to investigating sexual assault offences and providing justice for victims no matter how many years have passed. We would also like to acknowledge the tireless work on this case by Taskforce Sano investigators over many years."