Former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell will be freed after Australia's High Court overturned his child sex abuse conviction
The momentous decision, handed down Tuesday by Chief Justice Susan Kiefel, ends a five-year legal battle that started when a man in his 30s approached police alleging Pell had abused him as a child in the mid-1990s.At the time, Pell was Vatican Treasurer and the highest ranking Catholic official to ever be publicly accused of child sex offenses. Pell strenuously denied the charges, which he dismissed in a 2016 police interview as a"product of fantasy.
Pell's accuser is yet to respond, but in a statement released last year he said the criminal process had taken him to places that"in my darkest moments, that I feared I would not return from."Advocates say the decision will deliver a blow to survivors whose faith in the legal system had been restored by the guilty verdict.Pell was granted leave from the Vatican to contest the charges.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Sean Penn and Girlfriend Leila George Help at L.A. Coronavirus Testing Site Run by His NonprofitSean Penn is lending a hand during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. On Sunday, the Oscar winner, 59, was spotted helping volunteers at a drive-thru…
Read more »
Kate Middleton Has a Fun Way To Keep George & Charlotte Active in IsolationKate Middleton and her kids seem to be having a blast while in isolation at Anmer Hall.
Read more »
Gogglebox's George Gilbey gets supermarket job to help nation amid coronavirusGogglebox star George Gilbey, 36, got a job at a supermarket to help the UK amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Read more »
George W. Bush in 2005: 'If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare'In the summer of 2005, President George W. Bush was on vacation when he began flipping through an advanced copy of a new book about the 1918 flu pandemic.
Read more »