Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of sexual abuse, has failed in a legal bid to quash his convictions in Australia. Former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell loses appeal against sex abuse convictions, returns to prison https://t.co/oHJVNNewvp by @SonaliPaul2 pic.twitter.com/sruNeEmY1P — Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 21, 2019 Pell was jailed for six years in March after being found guilty of abusing two boys in a Melbourne cathedral in the 1990s. He maintains his innocence. A court of appeal rejected Pells argument that the verdict was unfair. The former Vatican treasurer, 78, will now consider a final appeal in the nations highest court. Last December, a jury unanimously convicted Pell of sexually abusing the 13-year-old boys at St Patricks Cathedral. Pell challenged the verdict by arguing it was unreasonable because there was insufficient evidence to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt. The clerics lawyers said the jury had relied too heavily on the uncorroborated evidence of the sole surviving victim. But his appeal was dismissed 2-1 by a panel of three judges in Victorias Court of Appeal on Wednesday. Justice [Chris] Maxwell and I accepted the prosecutions submission that the complainant was a compelling witness, was clearly not a liar, was not a fantasist and was a witness of truth, said Chief Justice Anne Ferguson. Pells conviction has rocked the Catholic Church, where he had been one of the Popes closest advisers. The Australian cleric will be eligible for parole in October 2022. Pell was archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 when he found the two boys on cathedral premises and sexually assaulted them. He abused one of the boys again in 1997. The trial heard testimony from one of the victims. The other died of a drug overdose in 2014. A jury rejected the defence argument that the allegations were fantasies. It convicted Pell of one charge of sexually penetrating a child, and four counts of committing an indecent act on a child. The verdict was kept secret from the public until February, when additional charges of sexual offences against Pell were withdrawn by prosecutors. The two judges who upheld the conviction said that they did not experience a doubt about the verdict. We note that Cardinal Pell did not have to prove anything in the trial. Rather, at all stages of trial, the burden of proof rested with the prosecution, Justice Ferguson said.
