George Pell faces new legal battle after being named in lawsuit

George Pell could face trial in relation to sex abuse at a Catholic college dating back to the 1980s.

Cardinal George Pell leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria, in Melbourne, yesterday. Picture: AAP

Cardinal George Pell could be on trial again next year, this time on civil claims that he knew former Christian Brother Ted Bales was sexually abusing children and did nothing to protect potential victims.

A man who was abused by Bales, formerly known as Edward Dowlan, has brought the suit against Pell, the Catholic Education Commission, Ballarat Bishop Paul Bird and Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli.

The man was abused by Bales at Cathedral College in East Melbourne in the early 1980s.

This morning the man’s lawyer, Michael Magazanik, from Rightside Legal, told the Supreme Court it would not be a complicated trial as Bales had already been found guilty of the abuse.

Mr Magazanik also said the claim that Pell and the other defendants had prior knowledge of Bales’ offending was all drawn from the child sex abuse royal commission.

The victim already received a settlement from the Christian Brothers for the abuse he suffered.

Judicial Registrar Julie Clayton set the matter down for mediation at the end of the year.

Outside court Mr Magazanik said Pell was responsible not only for his own offending, which he was convicted of by a jury last year and is subject to appeal, but also for that which he could have prevented.

“Pell has to answer not only for his own crimes but for crimes of other priests and brothers which he enabled by allowing them to be shuffled from school to school and parish to parish,” he said.

In final submissions to the royal commission, counsel assisting found Pell was told of Bales’ offending by at least one student and two priests as early as 1973.

The commission heard Pell raised the allegations with the chaplain of Ballarat’s St Patrick’s College Father Brendan Davey who told him the Christian Brothers were dealing with it.

“With the experience of 40 years later, certainly I would agree that I should have done more,” Pell told the commission from Rome in 2016.

“There was no specifics about the activity, how serious it was, and the boy wasn’t asking me to do anything about it, but just lamenting and mentioning it.”