George Pell Will Stand Trial On Child Sex Abuse Charge
He is the most senior figure of the Catholic church to ever go to court over child sex abuse charges.
Cardinal George Pell will be the most senior Catholic church figure to ever stand trial on child sex abuse charges after he was committed to stand trial this morning.
Magistrate Belinda Wallington told the court that Pell will face court on at least one charge, in relation to an alleged offence in a swimming pool in Ballarat.
Pell has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Pell is the financial controller for the Vatican City, meaning that he is the third most senior figure in the church. He is Australia’s most senior Catholic.
The former Ballarat priest entered Melbourne magistrates court at around 9:30 this morning, where dozens of police separated both international and local press from Pell.
Dramatic scenes outside court as Cardinal George Pell arrives @theage pic.twitter.com/F19qh2Puo4
— erin pearson (@epearson_3) April 30, 2018
Three courtrooms were required to hold all of the media that attended.
Details of the charges Pell is facing are yet to be revealed: but we do know that there is more than one charge, and more than one accuser. The media was not present at the committal hearing as they were closed to the public.
The four-week committal hearing heard from more than 30 witnesses. Throughout those weeks, Pell’s team argued that these witnesses were not credible, and that going to trial was not worth the use of public resources.
On the final day of the hearing, his team said that news reporting on the matter had “created the kind of public furore and public moment” that damaged witness credibility.
Prosecutors said that this was “nothing more than a theory”.
The police contingency for Pell pic.twitter.com/hFEpQokVEI
— Melissa Davey (@MelissaLDavey) April 30, 2018
Pell was Archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 to 2001, and is originally from Ballarat, Victoria. He established the Melbourne Response, a church inquiry that investigated claims of child sex abuse. Survivors have criticised that process, claiming that it “demonstrated a lack of understanding“.