Cardinal George Pell has been sentenced to 6 years in jail.
Unusually, TV cameras were allowed inside Melbourne County Court on March 13. to show the ruling for Pell’s serious child sex crimes – a case that has been of huge global interest.
The judge, Peter Kidd, described the 77-year-old as ‘brazen’ in his summing up – telling him ‘you were confident your victims would not complain’.
‘The offending which the jury has found you have engaged in was, on any view, breathtakingly arrogant,’ the judge told Pell – saying he had committed a ‘grave abuse of his power’.
Last month, Cardinal Pell was found guilty of sexually penetrating a child under the age of 16 as well as four charges of an indecent act with a minor.
He is the most senior Catholic priest ever convicted of child sex crimes.
The criminal offences involving two choirboys – who the judge referred to as ‘R’ and ‘J’ – occurred between December 1996 and early 1997 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, months after Pell was inaugurated as archbishop of Melbourne’s Catholic church.
Judge Kidd, told Pell he had exhibited ‘staggering arrogance’ and he had ‘high moral culpability’.
‘You are a figure of significant interest to those in the Catholic faith,’ he said.
‘In some sections of the community you are a publicly vilified figure.’
In summing up, the judge described the acts as ‘degrading and humiliating’.
‘The acts were sexually graphic,’ he told the court.
‘Both victims were visibly and audibly distressed during this offending. The obvious distress and objections of your victims is relevant to my assessment of the impact of your offending on J and R.
‘There is an added layer of degradation and humiliation that each of your victims must have felt in knowing that their abuse had been witnessed by the other.
‘In relation to charge one, this indecent act against R, in relation to charge one, which is the indecent act against R, has, in my view, nasty element to it.
‘Holding him by the head while placing the penis in close proximity to his head. While there was sexual physical contact, the conduct here must have been particularly confronting and debasing.’
Chief Judge Kidd said he rejected any inference Pell’s mental functioning was ‘impaired or diminished’ when he undertook the acts.
The judge told Pell that, as Archbishop, he occupied the ‘most senior leadership official and religious position at St Patrick’s Cathedral on the days in question’.
Pell committed the acts while dressed in his robes.
‘There was a large body of evidence that the environment at St Patrick’s Cathedral was hierarchical, structured, and subject to strict discipline,’ the judge said.
‘Authority mattered within the Cathedral, and was very largely respected. You were a pillar of St Patrick’s community by virtue of your role as Archbishop. Victim J gave evidence that the choirboys were expected to show reverence in your presence. The evidence shows that you were profoundly revered, Cardinal Pell, which imbued you with and legitimised your authority.
‘As Archbishop, you did have a relationship of approval in relation to the choirboys. In part, the choirboys were performing to please you as Archbishop. There was evidence that you would, from time to time, visit the robing room to congratulate the boys on their singing. The choirboys were the least powerful and the most subordinate individuals at the Cathedral.
‘The victims themselves were 13 years of age. The power imbalance between the victims and all the senior church leaders or officials, yourself included, was stark.
‘The victims’ presence and role within the choir at the and role within the choir at the cathedral were intimately part of their schooling. They were required to attend choir as part of their scholarship conditions. Their role in the choir was effectively part of their schooling. You understood this link, as did every cathedral official.
‘In my view, you did not say anything to your victims by way of threats to secure their silence, because you clearly felt that you did not need to,’ the judge said.
WATCH: Child sex abuse victim speaks out after Cardinal George Pell conviction
The judge said he was conscious that Pell was nearing the end of his life.
‘I am conscious that the term of imprisonment, which I am about to impose upon you, carries with it a real, as distinct from theoretical possibility that you may not live to be released from prison,’ he said, acknowledging Pell was suffering from congestive heart failure.
‘Facing jail at your age in these circumstances must be an awful state of affairs for you,’ he said.
The judge acknowledged that Pell had ‘reformed’ and was no longer ‘a risk to the community’.
Judge Kidd said the message which the courts send to would-be child sexual offenders ‘must be unequivocal’.
‘They must be dissuaded, whether the offending is planned, or whether it is the result of a spur-of-the-moment decision,’ he said.
Days before Pell’s February conviction Pope Francis quietly removed him from the Pontiff’s Council of Advisers, per the Guardian.
Once the verdict was made public, the Vatican issued a statement confirming the cleric was no longer its Secretariat for the Economy, the third most powerful position in the religious enclave.
Speaking of the court’s decision, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said: “This is painful news that, as we are well aware, has shocked many people, not only in Australia.
“We reiterate the utmost respect for the Australian judicial authorities. In the name of this respect, we now await the outcome of the appeal process.”
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