George Pell’s appeal against conviction denied
The Vatican has responded to the Pell decision, promising to pursue people in the Catholic Church who sexually abuse children.
The Vatican has responded to the Court of Appeal’s decision to deny George Pell’s bid for freedom as Australia’s highest ranking member of the Catholic Church failed to have his appeal against child sex convictions dismissed in court.
By a majority of two to one, Victoria’s Supreme Court dismissed the appeal earlier today, ordering Pell to “return to prison”.
“He will continue to serve his sentence of six years’ imprisonment,” Chief Justice Anne Ferguson said.
“He will remain eligible to apply for parole after he has served three years and eight months of the sentence.”
In a statement this afternoon, the Vatican “reiterated its respect for the Australian judicial system” and acknowledged “the court’s decision to dismiss Cardinal Pell’s appeal”.
“As the proceedings continue to develop, the Holy See recalls that the Cardinal has always maintained his innocence throughout the judicial process and that it is his right to appeal to the High Court,” the Vatican said.
“At this time, together with the Church in Australia, the Holy See confirms its closeness to the victims of sexual abuse and its commitment to pursue, through the competent ecclesiastical authorities, those members of the clergy who commit such abuse.”
Earlier today, Pell sat and listened intently as Chief Justice Anne Ferguson read out her reasons for rejecting his appeal. The 78-year-old looked dejected as he hunched forward to hear his appeal be denied.
RELATED: Judges tear apart Pell’s 13 excuses
Head bowed, with his grey hair hanging loosely around his face, the cardinal was led out of the courtroom just before 10am to serve out the rest of his jail sentence.
Chief Justice Ferguson told the court the judges had found the complainant “believable”, dismissed an animation created by Pell’s legal team about the cathedral abuse as biased and slapped down Pell’s argument that it was impossible for the abuse to have occurred.
Justice Weinberg did not side with Chief Justice Ferguson or Justice Maxwell, stating “there was significant and in some places impressive evidence suggesting that the complainant’s account was, in a realistic sense, impossible to accept”.
Despite this dissenting view, Pell’s appeal was denied.
Cheers were heard from inside the courtroom as dozens of people outside, watching the appeal on the livestream, listened to the judges slap down Pell’s appeal.
Sexual abuse survivors and campaigners cheered when news broke outside the court that Pell would remain in prison. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/RMYNVU38fT
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) August 20, 2019
The 78-year-old’s legal team are already looking at taking his appeal to the High Court, Australia’s final arbiter and the cardinal’s last attempt to have his convictions quashed.
His legal team confirmed this through a statement earlier today, saying Pell was “obviously disappointed with the decision”.
“His legal team will thoroughly examine the judgement in order to determine a special leave application to the High Court,” Pell’s spokesman said, thanking his “many supporters” and maintaining his innocence.
Pell could now also be stripped of his Order of Australia award after losing the appeal against his child sex abuse conviction.
In a statement, Governor-General David Hurley said he was waiting to see Pell pursue all legal avenues.
“Appointments to the Order of Australia may be terminated and one of the grounds is conviction for a crime or offence under a law of the Commonwealth, State or Territory,” the governor-general said.
“Once all legal proceedings have run their course, the Council for the Order of Australia may make a recommendation to me as Chancellor of the Order, which I will act on.”
Pell shared the courtroom with the world’s media, his own supporters and the family members of the two boys he was found guilty of sexually abusing in 1996.
Pell’s entire family were in the courtroom, including his brother. Chrissie Foster, the mother of two Catholic Church sex abuse victims, was also inside.
Pell’s main argument that he put to the three judges — Chief Justice Anne Ferguson, Court of Appeal president Justice Chris Maxwell and Justice Mark Weinberg — was that the abuse simply didn’t happen, that it was impossible.
Chief Justice Ferguson denied that argument, telling the court the survivor was “clearly not a liar”.
“Justice Maxwell and I accepted the prosecution’s submission that the complainant was a compelling witness, was clearly not a liar, was not a fantasist and was a witness of truth,” Chief Justice Ferguson said.
RELATED: Pell’s accuser was not a ‘liar’ or ‘fantasist’
“Throughout (the complainant’s) evidence, the complainant came across as someone who was telling the truth. He did not seek to embellish his evidence or tailor it in a manner favourable to the prosecution.”
She said the case of Pell had “divided the community” but the jury verdict from his original trial had been unanimous.
Chief Justice Ferguson said the three appeal judges also “did not experience a doubt”.
She said the three judges had watched all the recordings from the trial, including the recorded interview with Cardinal Pell and the evidence given by 12 of the 24 witnesses.
“Those recordings went for more than 30 hours and we’ve watched them more than once,” she said.
Pell presented the three appeal judges with “13 solid obstacles in the path of a conviction”.
Chief Justice Ferguson and Justice Maxwell rejected all 13, she said.
One they rejected was the notion that George Pell’s robes were “not able to be moved” to reveal his genitalia because of various layers of material. She told the court “the robes were not so heavy, nor so immovable as the evidence of Monsignor Portelli suggested”.
Pell’s legal team also presented the Court of Appeal with an animation depicting a blueprint of Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral with dots and lines depicting people in the church for Sunday mass.
Chief Justice Ferguson described the animation, that depicted text from witnesses favourable to Pell, as “tendentious in the extreme”.
“The trial judge ruled that the animation could not be shown to the jury as part of the defence final address. We have agreed with the trial judge,” she said.
“The animation bore little resemblance to the actual state of the evidence, but rather presented a distorted picture of that evidence. The animation was tendentious in the extreme.
“It was plainly intended to implant in the minds of the jury that the complainant’s account must have been impossible because the evidence showed that there were concelebrant
priests in the room at the time of the alleged offending.
“The visual representation ostensibly based on the evidence of trial, had the potential of misleading, or at least confusing the jury.”
‘MY JOURNEY HAS NOT BEEN AN EASY ONE’: CHOIRBOY SPEAKS
In a heartbreaking statement after Pell’s appeal decision was dismissed, the man to survive the cardinal’s abuse said he hoped “it is all over now”.
Often referred to as the choirboy, the man gave a statement through his lawyer Dr Viv Waller, who took his case probono after he made a statement to police four years ago.
“The criminal process has been stressful,” Dr Waller read.
“The journey has taken me to places that, in my darkest moments, I feared I would not return from.
“I appreciate that the criminal process has afforded Pell every opportunity to challenge the charges and every opportunity to be heard. I am glad he has had the best legal representation that money can buy. There are a lot of checks and balances in the criminal justice system and the appeals process is one of them. I just hope that it is all over now.”
The complainant said his friend’s funeral four years ago, who died after a drug overdose directly linked to his PTSD from Pell’s abuse, gave him a “responsibility to come forward”.
“I knew that he had been in a dark place. I had been in a dark place,” he said.
“I gave a statement to the police because I was thinking of him and his family. I felt that I should say what I saw and what had happened to me. I had experienced something terrible as a child, and I wanted some good to come of it.
“I would like to acknowledge the courage of those people who reported to the police. For one reason or another, your matters did not proceed. My heart goes out to you.”
The complainant also rejected the suggestion he was out to cause damage to the Catholic Church.
“I am not on a mission to do anybody any harm,” he said.
“Although my faith has taken a battering, it is still a part of my life, and a part of the lives of my loved ones. I am not an advocate. You wouldn’t know my name. I am not a champion for the cause of sexual abuse survivors, although I am glad that those advocates are out there, but
that is not my path.”
In February, when other sex abuse cases against Pell were thrown out, the choirboy was “left in the spotlight alone”.
“I asked Viv Waller to help me manage the considerable media interest in the case and to protect my identity and to protect my family,” he said.
“I could not afford legal representation, but that did not matter to her. I will be forever grateful that Viv agreed to help me and to do so for free.
“She has liaised with the media on my behalf. She has allowed the storms of public opinion to buffet her so that my young family could find safe harbour. My journey has not been an easy one. It has been all the more stressful because it involved a high-profile figure.”
The choirboy said his privacy was paramount, especially after recently becoming a father.
“I need to be able to define myself away from all of this,” he said.
“Recently, I have started a new chapter in my life as a father. The experiences I have been through have helped me understand what is truly important.”
The father of the other choirboy, who died in 2014 at the age of 31 from a drug overdose related to his PTSD, also spoke through his lawyer Lisa Flynn from Shine Lawyers.
“The disgraced cardinal is in the right place behind bars,” Ms Flynn said for the victim’s father.
“Our client has always said that he does not want the man who he holds responsible for his son’s downhill spiral and subsequent fatal heroin overdose to ever again have contact with any members of society.”
“It’s been an extremely tough wait for our client who has had to deal with the awful thought that maybe the man who destroyed his son’s life could have his conviction overturned.
“He shed tears of relief in the courtroom when the judgement was handed down this morning.”
“The court of appeal today agreed that our community representatives got it right and this sends a powerful message to all survivors of sexual abuse. You are finally being heard.
“We can only hope that this drawn out process is over once and for all and that the case does not now end up in the High Court of Australia.
“Regardless of today’s appeal outcome, our client was always going to continue to pursue a civil claim. We will continue to fight for compensation for him. He has suffered immensely knowing what George Pell did to his son as a young choirboy.”
THE LARGEST PAEDOPHILE RING IN THE WORLD IS BUSTED’
Child sex abuse survivors and their supporters screamed with joy as Pell was told he was going back to jail.
Julie Cameron, an advocate for child sex abuse victims, told reporters outside court the Catholic Church was “busted”.
“The biggest protected paedophile ring in the world is busted!†#GeorgePell @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/hrG2isbePa
— Rohan Smith (@Ro_Smith) August 21, 2019
Valda Ann Hogan, whose late brother was molested by members of the Catholic Church, told news.com.au today was another step towards healing.
“It means a lot to us,” she said. “It shows people what did go on. These buggers got away with it for years.”
Dressed in a pink cap with the word “guilty” written on it, Ms Hogan said she had been let down by priests and that today’s judgment was a relief.
David Mulholland shed tears as he spoke of his gratitude for the three judges that upheld Pell’s conviction.
“Ecstatic,” he told news.com.au. “Finally the pious religious spirit has been seen through by the expert appeal judges. Bless them, I love them.
“They saw through the lies.”
Robert House, a survivor of sexual assault, said he was “exhilarated”.
“It sets a standard for people who put themselves in positions of power and abuse that power by raping children. They’ll get caught and they’ll be put behind bars.”
He said it was a “very, very special day” and that he would continue to fight as Pell prepared to take the matter to the High Court.
Pell arrived just after 8.30am and was led from a prison van wearing handcuffs.
There was a heavy police presence around the courthouse as dozens of supporters and sex abuse survivors gather outside.
The 78-year-old, dressed in black clerical clothes, was hunched over as he was led into the court.
Pell was jailed for six years in March for historical sex offences during his time as Archbishop of Melbourne. He was convicted of orally raping a 13-year-old choirboy in the sacristy at St Patrick’s Cathedral and grabbing a 13-year-old choirboy’s genitalia in a hallway at the same church two months later.
One of the two choirboys was a key prosecution witness. The other died of an overdose in 2014 at the age of 31 without ever complaining that he had been abused.
Pell has always maintained his innocence.
The judgment comes as prison authorities from the Melbourne Assessment Prison investigate a letter purporting to be from Pell that was circulated on social media earlier this month.
The letter, dated August 1, was sent around by supporters. It read: “My faith in our Lord, like yours, is a source of strength.
“The knowledge that my small suffering can be used for good purposes through being joined to Jesus’ suffering gives me purpose and direction.”
Prison rules forbid prisoners from posting on social media, using the internet or asking others to post on their behalf.
Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli told the ABC last week he had visited Pell in prison and the 78-year-old’s mental state was “a bit like a calm in a storm”.
Comensoli said Pell’s imprisonment — being held in protective custody as a convicted paedophile and spending 23 hours a day alone in his cell — “takes its toll”.
“There’d be a psychological agitation about waiting for what’s going to be the outcome of the appeal, but I found him strong … spiritually and calm and very conversive,” Comensoli said.
Pell’s appeal hung on key arguments outlined during earlier hearings. His lawyers argued he had an alibi, the attacks could not have happened where and when they did, and a priest who may have given contradictory evidence was never interviewed.
Bret Walker SC told the court it was “literally impossible” for the offences to have taken place in the five to six minute time frame accepted by the jury — given the “activities, rituals, practices and customary traditions” that would have been taking place in the church at the time.