Cardinal George Pell jailed for six years in sexual abuse case

Former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell was on Wednesday sentenced to six years in jail for sexually abusing two choir boys in Melbourne in the 1990s.

You "may not live to be released from prison" County Court of Victoria Chief Judge Peter Kidd acknowledged, as he accused the former Vatican number three of "appalling offending" and a "brazen and forceful sexual attack on the two victims."

Pell, a former top adviser to Pope Francis, is the most senior Catholic to be convicted for child sex offences.

“In my view, your conduct was permeated by staggering arrogance,” said Kidd in handing down the sentence after Pell was convicted of five charges of sexually abusing two children.

“Viewed overall, I consider your moral culpability across both episodes to be high,” he told the packed courtroom.

Pell, who appeared in court without a priest’s collar for the first time during the case, showed no emotion during the sentencing hearing that ran for more than one hour. He has maintained his innocence and has filed an appeal that is scheduled to be heard in June.

Pell was found guilty of cornering the two boys, who were aged 13 at the time and on scholarships to the prestigious St Kevin's College, in the sacristy after Sunday mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in December 1996, when he was archbishop of Melbourne.

The boys had "nicked off" from the rest of the choral procession and were taking swigs of sacramental wine before the cardinal found them, opened his robe, exposed his penis and sexually assaulted them.

"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," said Kidd.

The judge added that the attack, and another two months later, in 1997, when he forced one of the boys up against the wall of a corridor and grabbed his genitals had a "profound impact" on the life of his victims.

One of the victims died in 2014. The other victim, who testified and was cross-examined at the trial, issued a statement through his solicitor saying he found it hard to take comfort in the verdict for now.

Pell was found guilty by a jury on four charges of indecent acts and one of sexual penetration. He had faced a maximum of 10 years in jail for each charge.

“Cardinal Pell, I find beyond reasonable doubt that, on the specific facts of your case, there was a clear relationship of trust with the victims, and you breached that trust and abused your position to facilitate this offending,” Kidd said.

Kidd said that as Pell had maintained his innocence, which was his right, he had not shown remorse or contrition for his actions and that his sentence reflected that.

Pell’s fate within the church has yet to be decided. The Vatican has said it will not comment on the case until after the appeal.

If defrocked, Pell would be the highest profile figure to be dismissed from the priesthood in modern times and only the second Roman Catholic prelate to lose the title of cardinal in nearly 100 years.