George Pell dead: Mystery why cardinal didn’t have hip operation at Gemelli, the ‘pope’s hospital’
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nineteen ninety six
– Pell appointed Archbishop of Melbourne by Pope John Paul II
– Pell is alleged to have sexually assaulted two 13-year-old choirboys after a Sunday High Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
– A second indecent act was allegedly committed by Pell against one of the choir boys in a corridor of the Cathedral.
2016
– The Herald Sun reports that Pell is under investigation by Victoria Police’s Sano task force for ‘multiple offences’ committed while he was a priest in Ballarat and Archbishop of Melbourne.
– Pell says the allegations are ‘baseless and absolutely false’ and calls for an investigation into how the police investigation was made public.
– Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has asked the anti-corruption watchdog to investigate the leak but denies it came from the police.
Cardinal George Pell, 77, was known as the Vatican’s treasurer and had been granted a leave of absence while he faced trial for child sex crimes in Australia.
– Pell provides evidence to the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on the investigation of the abuse in Ballarat
– Under Vatican rules, Pell gives Pope Francis his resignation on his 75th birthday, as is customary. not accepted
– Victoria Police investigators deliver a brief of evidence into the allegations of sexual abuse by Pell to the state Public Prosecutor’s Office.
– The officers travel to Rome to interview Pell about the abuse allegations. He willingly participates in the interview.
2017
– The police present their final brief of evidence to the Office of the Public Prosecutor to consider the charges
– Prosecutors give police the green light to charge Pell.
JUNE 2017
– Pell is charged with multiple counts of historical child sex crimes
– He denies the charges and vows to clear his name
– Pell’s lawyers appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court
– Pell steps down from his role as Vatican finance chief to fight the charges.
JULY 2017
– Pell returns to Australia
– Hire the best lawyer Robert Richter QC
– Supporters created a fund to help Pell fight the charges.
MARCH 2018
– Prosecutors drop one of the charges against Pell
– A month-long commitment hearing begins to determine if Pell will stand trial
– Prosecutors drop more charges
– Mr Richter claims police carried out a ‘get Pell operation’ and accuses Judge Belinda Wallington of bias. She refuses to disqualify herself from the case.
MAY 2018
– Judge Belinda Wallington orders Pell to stand trial on some charges, but dismisses others
– Pell formally pleads ‘not guilty’
– Two trials are ordered, separating the allegations from the 70s and 90s
– A Victoria County Court clerk is fired for seeking information on the Pell case.
AUGUST 2018
– 1990s ‘cathedral trial’ begins at Victoria County Court in Melbourne
– Pell pleads not guilty again to one count of sexual penetration of a child under 16 and four counts of indecent acts with a child, for incidents involving two 13-year-old choirboys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996.
SEPTEMBER 2018
– The jury is acquitted, unable to reach a verdict after a week of deliberation. Some jurors cry.
NOVEMBER 2018
– A new trial begins. The jury is not informed of the previous hung jury.
DECEMBER 2018
– Pell found guilty on all counts by unanimous jury
– Richter says Pell will appeal
– Suppression orders prevent the Australian media from reporting on the verdict, but it is disseminated through the international media within hours.
FEBRUARY 2019
– The hearings begin before the second trial. Prosecutors drop another charge
– An appeal is filed against the conviction of the cathedral trial
– A county court judge finds vital evidence inadmissible
– Prosecutors are dropping all remaining charges against Pell and dropping a second trial on allegations that Pell indecently assaulted children in Ballarat in the 1970s when he was a parish priest.
– Pell is due to be arrested on Wednesday, February 27, when the plea hearing begins.
MARCH 2019
– Pell sentenced to six years in prison with a non-parole period of three years and eight months by Chief County Court Judge Peter Kidd.
APRIL 2020
– The conviction is overturned on appeal by the High Court of Australia. The court said that “there is a significant possibility … that an innocent person has been convicted.”
Australian Associated Press