Cardinal George Pell convicted of child sex abuse

Cardinal George Pell.
(Image credit: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

A jury in Melbourne has found Cardinal George Pell, Australia's most senior Catholic and the Vatican's economy minister, guilty of sexually abusing two 13-year-old boys in 1996.

The 77-year-old cleric was also found guilty of indecently assaulting one of the teens a month later. One of the victims, now 34, testified in court. The other died in 2014 of a heroin overdose. The jury reached its decision on Dec. 11, but the court ordered that the verdict and details of the case stay under wraps until now. Pell faces up to 50 years in prison, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Pell is the Catholic Church's most senior official to be convicted of sexual abuse. In December, the Vatican announced Pell had been removed from Pope Francis' council of advisers.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.