A new civil lawsuit has been filed in Australia against Cardinal George Pell, convicted of child abuse. The confirmed court representative in Melbourne.
Background are allegations that the former Pope confidant in the seventies in his hometown Ballarat in a swimming pool children immoral touched. Australian media had already reported in recent days that a suspected abuse victim was planning a civil suit.
Because of the allegations, there had been a procedure, but this was set at the end of February. The civil claim now filed is directed against Pell, authorities in the Australian state of Victoria and the operators of the Catholic Children's Home, where the plaintiff lived at the time of the alleged abuse.
Pell was convicted in December of another trial for having lost two choirboys in the mid-'90s in Melbourne Cathedral. The then archbishop of Melbourne is said to have bared two boys and forced one of them to oral sex.
The former number three of the Vatican is the highest-ranking representative of the Catholic Church, which was convicted of child abuse. The cardinal, who is currently in a detention center, has rejected the allegations.
According to prosecutors threaten the former Vatican chief financial officer up to 50 years in prison. The sentence is to be announced on March 13th. The appointment process is scheduled for June.