Australian Cardinal George Pell Loses Appeal on Child Sex Abuse Conviction

Australian Cardinal George Pell Loses Appeal on Child Sex Abuse Conviction
Cardinal George Pell arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, on Aug. 2, 2019. Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
The Associated Press
Updated:

MELBOURNE, Australia—An Australian court by a 2-1 majority ruling Wednesday upheld convictions against Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic to be found guilty of children sex abuse.

The Victoria state Court of Appeal rejected Cardinal George Pell’s appeal of the unanimous verdicts a jury issued in December finding Pope Francis’ former finance minister guilty of molesting two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996 and 1997.