Cardinal George Pell has been jailed for six years after being convicted of sexually abusing two boys in Australia.
The former Vatican treasurer is the most senior Catholic figure ever to be found guilty of sexual offences against children.
Pell abused the 13-year-old choir boys in a Melbourne cathedral in 1996, a jury ruled last year.
The cardinal, 77, maintains his innocence and has lodged an appeal.
In sentencing Pell on Wednesday, a judge said the cleric had committed “a brazen and forcible sexual attack on the two victims”.
“Your conduct was permeated by staggering arrogance,” said Judge Peter Kidd.
In December, a jury unanimously convicted Pell of one charge of sexually penetrating a child under 16, and four counts of committing an indecent act on a child under 16.
His conviction has rocked the Catholic Church, where he had been one of the Pope’s closest advisers.
Pell will be eligible for parole after three years and eight months. His appeal will be heard in June.
One of Pell’s victims said it was hard “to take comfort in this outcome” with the cleric’s appeal looming.
What did the court hear previously?
Prosecutors said that Pell had abused the boys following a mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996, when he was archbishop of Melbourne.
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After telling them they were in trouble for drinking communion wine, Pell forced each boy into indecent acts, the court heard. 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.
The verdict was kept secret from the public until February, when additional charges of sexual offences against Pell were withdrawn by prosecutors.
What did the judge say?
Judge Kidd said Pell’s crimes were particularly callous because of a “stark” power imbalance.
“You were the archbishop of St Patrick’s Cathedral – no less – and you sexually abused two choir boys within that cathedral,” he told the County Court of Victoria.
“You even told your victims to be quiet because they were crying.”
The judge said he had considered Pell’s age and health in determining the sentence. Each of the five charges had carried a maximum 10-year jail term.
Judge Kidd added that Pell should not “be made a scapegoat” for wider failings within the Catholic Church.
He took more than an hour to deliver his remarks. Unusually for local courts, they were broadcast live – in what officials said was a commitment to “open justice”.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
