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Former altar boy’s father to press on with abuse case against Pell

Former altar boy's father to press on with abuse case against Pell
Protesters hold placards outside the County Court to hear the sentencing of Cardinal George Pell in Melbourne on March 13, 2019. Disgraced Australian Cardinal George Pell was sentenced to six years in jail for child sex crimes in a Melbourne court with a minimum period of three years and eight months to be served. (Photo: AFP)

Former altar boy’s father to press on with abuse case against Pell

The father of a former altar boy will press ahead with legal action against Cardinal George Pell’s estate over the alleged sexual abuse of his son, his lawyers said Wednesday.

Shine Lawyers said they would continue to pursue the claim against any estate left by the cardinal, who died Tuesday in Rome.

The former altar boy died in 2014, and his father — who has not been identified — filed the claim against Pell and the Archdiocese of Melbourne in 2021.

“A civil trial would have provided the opportunity to cross-examine Pell and truly test his defense against these allegations,” Shine Lawyers, representing the father, said hours after the powerful Church figure’s death.

“There is a great deal of evidence for this claim to rely on, and the court will be asked in due course to make its ruling on that evidence.”

The father is accusing the Church of mistreating his son. The case was made public in July last year and widely reported in the Australian media.

Pell, once widely seen as the right-hand man to Pope Francis, served 12 months in a Melbourne jail after being convicted in 2018 on five counts of sexually abusing 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s.

A court quashed his conviction in April 2020, allowing the cardinal to walk free. He left Australia to live in the Vatican later that year.

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Written by Altar Boy
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Preda Foundation Inc.

The work of Preda Foundation is focused on alleviating the physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse and suffering of children and preventing abuse through community education and social media.

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