Cardinal George Pell Bail Application Withdrawn Jailed for Molesting Boys

Cardinal George Pell’s bail application has been withdrawn on Feb. 27, 2019, and he will be jailed.

Pell was sentenced in Melbourne’s county court for sexually molesting two boys where were 13-years-old. His Robert Richer tried to obtain the lower end of his possible sentence.

Chief Judge Peter Kidd called Pell’s behavior “brazen, callous, offending, and his behavior shocking.”

Richter tried to argue with that there were no aggravating circumstances to the charge of sexual molestation that his client was found guilty of.  The lawyer said the Cardinal’s  offense was a “plain vanilla sexual penetration case in which the child was not actively participating.”

Judge Kidd responded, “You must see I am struggling with that response.”

Richter also tried to pursue the judge that when Pell grabbed the genitals of a  13-year-old boy, it only lasted for a few seconds and was not worthy of jail time.  The judge disagreed.

Advocates and abuse survivors who sat in the courtroom during sentencing were shocked as Richter asked for a lower-end sentence. The lawyer argued if Pell’s victims were distressed about being sexually molested, after the incident they would have exhibited signs of being distressed.

Kidd told Richter during arguments he told the jury only a person who was mentally unstable would commit these crimes.

The jury did not see Pell as being insane. There also was no medical records that state this.

Judge Kidd added that the only logical way of thinking is Pell thought he would never be caught.  He said people do not sexually abuse children without thinking about it first. People make choices to harm them.

Richter submitted character references from high-profile individuals such as the president of the Australian Catholic University.

The prosecutors submitted a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing. A second statement was provided by the father of the other boy Pell sexually abused. That boy died from a drug overdose in 2014 at the age of 30-years-old.

Kidd will deliver Pell’s sentencing at a later date. Each of the five convictions carries up to ten years in jail.

Written by Barbara Sobel

Sources:

The Guardian: George Pell’s lawyer says child abuse was ‘plain vanilla’ sex as cardinal heads to jail

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