Cardinal George Pell sentenced to 6 years in prison for child sex abuse

Cardinal George Pell.
(Image credit: Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Australian Cardinal George Pell, the former Vatican treasurer, has been sentenced to six years in prison, after being convicted in December of sexually abusing two boys inside Melbourne's St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1996.

The 77-year-old will be eligible for parole after serving three years and eight months. He is the most senior Vatican official to be convicted of sexual abuse.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.