George Pell loses his appeal

The Victorian Court of Appeal has confirmed the conviction on child sex offences of Australia's highest ranking Catholic clergyman, Cardinal George Pell. A jury found Cardinal Pell guilty in December of sexually abusing two choirboys in 1996 when he served as Archbishop of Melbourne. He was sentenced to six years in prison with a non-parole period of three years and eight months. Pell appealed the jury’s guilty verdict in June on grounds it reached an unreasonable verdict. Cardinal Pell's legal team argued the evidence given in the trial supplied him with a "real alibi" and it had been "physically impossible" for the Cardinal to have committed the offences he was convicted of. Pell will be returned to his prison cell on Wednesday, where he has spent the past six months. The former Archbishop of Melbourne has 28 days to appeal the ruling.

from National | Daily Telegraph https://ift.tt/33LHth5