Cardinal Pell to spend first night behind bars after bail application withdrawn

Source: CNN



By Hilary Whiteman, CNN

Updated 1301 GMT (2101 HKT) February 27, 2019

Melbourne, Australia (CNN)Disgraced Cardinal George Pell will be held in custody after his defense team unexpectedly withdrew a bail application on multiple counts of child sex abuse.

The former Vatican treasurer won't be sentenced until March 13, meaning he could spend up to two weeks in jail before the hearing.

The close adviser to Pope Francis was found guilty in December of five charges of indecent acts and sexual penetration of a child, though the guilty verdict was suppressed until this week.

Chief Judge Peter Kidd has already indicated 77-year-old Pell will serve prison time for indecently assaulting two choirboys at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in the late 1990s.


Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/26/australia/pell-sex-abuse-conviction-appeal-intl/index.html