He is charged with four counts of an indecent act, and one act of sexual penetration with a minor, two decades ago. “He engaged in some shocking conduct against two boys, and he had the capacity to reason and did it in such brazen circumstances that he obviously felt some degree of impunity,” Judge Peter Kidd of the County Court of Victoria said. The lawyers for Cardinal Pell said they would appeal the conviction after his sentence was delivered.
„Cardinal Pell has always and continues to maintain his innocence,” the defense lawyer Paul Galbally said in a statement. Another defense lawyer, Mr. Richter, also produced a list of character references including a letter written by John Howard, a former prime minister of Australia, to prove the cardinal to be a kind and generous man. On the other part, he prosecutor Mark Gibson called the abuse “humiliating and degrading toward each boy and gave rise to stress.” The senior Catholic cleric was jailed while waiting to learn his sentence.
