Dark secrets could be revealed

Attorney General Christian Porter,. Picture: AP.

The redacted sections of the royal commission into child sex abuse that relate to George Pell are now a significant step closer to being made public.

Attorney-General Christian Porter will take advice from Victorian prosecutors before releasing any information that could relate to Cardinal George Pell.

It will be up to Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd QC to decide whether any of the information is necessary for future prosecutions.

This could depend in part on whether the Court of Appeal decision is appealed in the High Court.

It has been widely speculated the matter would be taken to the Court of Appeal regardless of who lost the case. There is no guarantee an appeal would be heard even though the case is widely seen as one of the most significant in Australian legal history.

Pell was heavily scrutinised by the royal commission over what he knew and when, and what he did to prevent offending by the pedophile priests Peter Searson and Gerald Ridsdale.

The commission’s report into Searson is heavily blacked out but mentions Pell as having left the Ballarat diocese to be ­ordained as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

The appointment included Searson’s parish of Doveton, in Melbourne’s southeast. Counsel assisting the royal commission claimed Pell knew about Searson’s offending but failed to act.

“It was incumbent on Cardinal Pell, having regard to his responsibilities as auxiliary bishop, including for the welfare of children in the parish, to take such action as he could to advocate that Searson be removed or suspended or, at least, that a thorough investigation be undertaken,’’ counsel told the commission.

Searson’s offending included carrying a gun at school, killing ­animals and showing children a body in a coffin. He died aged 86 in 2009 without facing child sex abuse charges. He was accused of multiple cases of sex abuse.

Pell is a former friend of Ridsdale and the relationship has plagued Pell. Aged 85, Ridsdale has offended against hundreds of boys and girls and is never likely to leave jail.