Cardinal George Pell, the senior-most Roman Catholic cleric ever to be accused and convicted of child sex abuse, was released from prison near Geelong in Australia on Tuesday.
After hearing intense arguments for two days from the cardinal’s lawyers and Victoria state prosecutors, the High Court of Australia decided to overturn charges of child abuse against him on Monday.
The bench found that finding the witness account to be compelling and honest was not enough. The High Court bench found that even if it found the alleged victim's account to be credible, “evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof.”
Pell, who was sentenced to six years in prison, served 13 months of his sentence in Barwon Prison.
Two men, who were 13-year-old choirboys then, said they were abused by Pell in late 1996 after he caught them swigging sacramental wine in a rear room of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne. Pell was also found guilty of abusing a boy in a corridor.
“I hold no ill will toward my accuser. I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough,” said Pell, who always maintained his innocence.
One of the choirboys, now in his 30s, first went to police in 2015 after the second alleged victim died of a heroin overdose at age 31. Both men are unnamed, as under state law, neither can be identified.
According to the Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd, the surviving victim’s detailed knowledge of the layout of the priests' sacristy supported his accusation that the boys were molested there.
After he was sentenced, the Victoria State Court rejected Pell's appeal. This forced Pell’s lawyers to move the High Court, which decided in November 2019 to hear Pell's appeal—his last chance to overturn his convictions.
Victoria Police said, that it “remains committed to investigating sexual assault offences and providing justice for victims no matter how many years have passed,” and added that it acknowledged the “tireless work on this case” by task force investigators.
