• Australia Cardinal George Pell, sentenced to 6 years in prison for child abuse

The High Court of Australia admitted on Wednesday to the petition to appeal the Australian Cardinal George Pell against his sentence to six years in prison for sexual abuse committed against two minors in the 1990s.

A spokesman for the High Court of Australia told Efe that "the request was sent to the full of the magistrates and the case will be tried on a date to be determined."

"The case is ready for inclusion in the trial calendar after March 4, 2020," he said.

This is the last route that Pell, former Vatican Minister of Finance, has of reversing the jail sentence that has captured worldwide attention because it is the highest authority of the Catholic Church to be convicted of pedophilia.

Last March, the 78-year-old cardinal was sentenced to six years in prison for five counts of sexual abuse of minors, including one for oral penetration, committed against two boys in the St. Patrick's Cathedral choir in Melbourne, in the years 1996 and 1997.

In August, the Melbourne State Supreme Court , based in Melbourne, dismissed Pell's first appeal against the sentence, rejecting the arguments of the cardinal's lawyers who questioned the truthfulness of the victim's testimony and the possibility that the Jury could have issued a verdict beyond reasonable doubt.

Pell, imprisoned since February, will remain in prison at least until 2022, when he can apply for parole, and will remain included in the pedophile registry, unless his appeal to the Superior Court continues.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Australia
  • Supreme Court
  • Sexual aggressions
  • Sexual abuse

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