Australia / Oceania

Cardinal George Pell To Be Freed After Court Overturns His Conviction

In 2018, a jury found Pell guilty of child sexual abuse. But Australia's high court says the evidence didn't sufficiently show Pell was guilty.

Cardinal George Pell To Be Freed After Court Overturns His Conviction
Associated Press

Australia's highest court has overturned child sexual abuse convictions for Cardinal George Pell, allowing the 78-year-old to walk free.

Pell was the most senior Catholic Church figure ever jailed in connection with sexual abuse crimes. In 2018, a jury found him guilty of abusing two boys in the 1990s.

But the High Court unanimously voted to overturn his conviction, immediately ending his six-year jail sentence that started last year.

Pell served as treasurer for the Vatican from 2014-2019.

According to The Guardian, the court determined "the unchallenged evidence of the opportunity witnesses was inconsistent with the complainant's account."

Now that Pell is free, the case is officially over and there will be no new trials related to these charges.