Well, he is back to face the charges..

Greyman wrote:Well, he is back to face the charges..

I'm not surprised. ++George is no coward, he loves a scrap and I imagine he cannot see a circumstance where he could possibly be convicted. He's a prelate!

He's being put up by the Archdiocese of Sydney which is to be expected as that is where he is incardinated. They have to pay for him, but crucially, his legal bills will not be met by the See of Sydney -- a bit unusual.

So today's the day for Gorgeous George.

Cardinal George Pell is due to front a Melbourne court for the first time today as he fights historical sexual offence charges.

. . . .

The Pope granted Pell leave to return to Australia from the Vatican for his first appearance in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today.

A court spokeswoman said he would not receive any special treatment.

Click!

He's just up for mention in the Magistrates' Court, which should be quite a leveling experience for the old fella. Having to sit with the drunk drivers, drug addicts, minor sex pests, wife bashers and other assorted detritus waiting for his name to be called will be a new experience for ++George.

He's not required to attend in person - he could have just sent his solicitor - but clearly his media people have started getting through to him about public perceptions.

The media scrum should be impressive.

The Serpent wrote:The media scrum should be impressive.

It was.

A related story on the BBC today.

Paedophile-hunting policeman wins payout 46 years on

Former Australian detective Denis Ryan was driven out of the police force in 1972 when he tried to bring a paedophile priest to justice.

Now almost 50 years after he was ordered by superiors to drop the case - and deprived of a police pension - Mr Ryan will receive compensation.

The 86-year-old man was recently awarded an undisclosed sum by the state government of Victoria.

"When I heard the news, I nearly jumped out of my socks," he said.

Pell has been found guilty. He will probably appeal.

Cardinal George Pell was last year convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys in 1996, but the Victorian County Court has not allowed media outlets to report the verdict before now. Pell is Australia's most senior Catholic cleric and he now faces the prospect of prison time.

His five-week trial ended last December, when a jury found Pell guilty of sexual penetration of a child under 16, as well as four counts of committing an indecent act with, or in the presence, of a child. It is likely Pell will be remanded in custody after a plea hearing on Wednesday, before he is sentenced next week.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-26/ ... d/10847786
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-26/ ... l/10837564

I'm late to this, but ... Pell has been found guilty on five counts of sexual abuse of minors. Full details of the charges in that article.

Each offence carries a maximum 10 year prison sentence. At 77, it's unlikely that Pell will live to leave prison once the sentences begin.

Calilasseia wrote:Each offence carries a maximum 10 year prison sentence. At 77, it's unlikely that Pell will live to leave prison once the sentences begin.

Provided he loses the appeal and loses it before he dies and the judge does not suspend the sentence and none of the many influential members of the old boys club (which include former prime ministers T. Abbott and J. Howard) succeed in pulling the coals out of the fire for him and...

I expect he'll cop a 6 to 18 months worth of home detention at most ("because he is a frail man") on each charge, to be served concurrently, and that he will be paroled before he has served half of it in some luxuriously appointed retreat with a cook, a personal secretary and other help, during which he will write his self-aggrandising memoirs/apologetics/denials of ever having done any wrong.

On the other hand, someone could decide to make an example of him if he loses the appeal, and drop the full 10 years on him. There's also the prospect of outrage if he gets a lesser sentence for sticking his cock in a boy's mouth, than some poor person who was sent to prison for a lesser offence.

Calilasseia wrote:On the other hand, someone could decide to make an example of him if he loses the appeal, and drop the full 10 years on him. There's also the prospect of outrage if he gets a lesser sentence for sticking his cock in a boy's mouth, than some poor person who was sent to prison for a lesser offence.

That would be a pleasant change, but it's not how the system works. Three years ago Gary Brabham, the son of three times Formula One world champion, Sir Jack Brabham, was released from jail after six months of an 18 month sentence. He had been found guilty of one count of raping a six year old girl and one count of indecent treatment. The judge noted that Gary showed no remorse. He even tried to appeal his lenient sentence. And that was not all.

In 2009 the former Gold Coast-based international racing driver pleaded guilty to charges of indecent dealing of a child under 12 years.

Brabham managed to have his name suppressed as he served out his time in high security at Wacol jail.

On his release, in an attempt to rebuild his motor racing career, Brabham claimed to have been overseas working for large motoring companies.

There was outrage about the leniency of the sentence, of course. Alas, to no avail.

Now try and imagine how much more influence a Cardinal has with the old boys network of the establishment. They protect their own.

He withdrew his bail attempt...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-27/ ... g/10851152

off to jail the asshole goes after sentencing....he's had his last day of freedom hopefully for the rest of his misbegotten life....where is the ex-comm committee anyway.

Macdoc wrote:where is the ex-comm committee anyway.

The ex-comm committee will continue to sit on its hands until the inevitable appeal to the High Court has run its course. Not only that, but Pell is still a Cardinal. That'll have to go before any move toward defrocking and excommunicating him.

Meanwhile, the old boys network is closing ranks. John Howard, who after 12 years of Prime Ministership has a lot of clout in the establishment, is one of 15 prominent conservatives to have penned glowing character references for the convicted rapist. Another former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, is a practising catholic who actually spent a couple of years in a seminary before switching his career path from priesthood to politics. I bet he is currently working feverishly all available supporting levers in the background.

The convicted rapist has yet to admit guilt, and his supporters in Rome, Australia and everywhere else are singing in unison: "Nobody believes the court verdict is right".

The defence is keeping its health card up its sleeve to use as a last resort. It'll come out the moment Pell has run out of court procedures. I can hear it already: "77 year old frail man who recently had two knee replacement operations won't be able to cope with the rigours of life in jail. Please let him live last last few days of his life out in a pleasant, sumptuously serviced monastery surrounded by a bucolic vineyard and the sound of Gregorian chants sung by a live choir of altar boys whose voices have not yet broken. It's the humane thing to do in our civilised society."

This is what gets me the most: I am not into vengeance, but a soft landing for the rapist sends a wrong signal to other sexual criminals in high places. They quite rightly won't be able so see potentially discouraging consequences following any of their past, present or future sex-crimes. The old boys will always come to their rescue.

The ranks are sealed to the point of absurdity. Pell was the Archbishop of Sydney for 13 years. St Mary's Cathedral has a series of plaques next to its front main entrance, honouring each and every one of them. This is the one honouring Cardinal Pell:



A spokesperson for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney said the church has "no reason" to remove the plaque while the court dealt with an appeal process.

He is already being protected by the circle of police officers he has around him as he leaves / enters the courts
Any ordinary paedophile would not have such a high level of protection and would be without any security at all

He has to be given a custodial sentence and stripped of his title
Anything less than that would be a complete traversty of justice

surreptitious57 wrote:He is already being protected by the circle of police officers he has around him as he leaves / enters the courts
Any ordinary paedophile would not have such a high level of protection and would be without any security at all

1) In Australia sex-offenders are afforded the same level of security regardless of their previous social standing.
2) Learn the difference between paedophilia and hebephilia.

surreptitious57 wrote:He has to be given a custodial sentence and stripped of his title
Anything less than that would be a complete traversty of justice

3) Not allowing Pell to avail himself to all appeals processes open to everyone else would be a complete travesty of justice.

4) This post of yours is a complete chain of ex recto assertions, but don't worry; I have become used to this emanating from you.

As far as I know, there's nothing to suggest that sex offenders in the UK wouldn't be afforded the same level of protection as in Australia. Would be a bit weird to abandon protection of someone at the time when they are the most vulnerable.

Hermit wrote:

Macdoc wrote:where is the ex-comm committee anyway.

The ex-comm committee will continue to sit on its hands until the inevitable appeal to the High Court has run its course. Not only that, but Pell is still a Cardinal. That'll have to go before any move toward defrocking and excommunicating him.

Meanwhile, the old boys network is closing ranks. John Howard, who after 12 years of Prime Ministership has a lot of clout in the establishment, is one of 15 prominent conservatives to have penned glowing character references for the convicted rapist. Another former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, is a practising catholic who actually spent a couple of years in a seminary before switching his career path from priesthood to politics. I bet he is currently working feverishly all available supporting levers in the background.

The convicted rapist has yet to admit guilt, and his supporters in Rome, Australia and everywhere else are singing in unison: "Nobody believes the court verdict is right".

The defence is keeping its health card up its sleeve to use as a last resort. It'll come out the moment Pell has run out of court procedures. I can hear it already: "77 year old frail man who recently had two knee replacement operations won't be able to cope with the rigours of life in jail. Please let him live last last few days of his life out in a pleasant, sumptuously serviced monastery surrounded by a bucolic vineyard and the sound of Gregorian chants sung by a live choir of altar boys whose voices have not yet broken. It's the humane thing to do in our civilised society."

This is what gets me the most: I am not into vengeance, but a soft landing for the rapist sends a wrong signal to other sexual criminals in high places. They quite rightly won't be able so see potentially discouraging consequences following any of their past, present or future sex-crimes. The old boys will always come to their rescue.

Pell won't be excommunicated, nothing he's done or said to have done is punishable by excommunication under canon law.

In the event his appeals fail he'll almost certainly be deposed from the cardinalate and then laicised (defrocked). For a cleric the latter is much worse than excommunication. It means to be dismissed from the clerical state and reduced to the status of a layman. He'll no longer be entitled to be paid, clothed and housed by the Church.

The Serpent wrote:Pell won't be excommunicated, nothing he's done or said to have done is punishable by excommunication under canon law.

Good point.

Says much about canon law that you can't be exed for diddling kids let alone when in a position of authority

But heaven forbid if you piss in the wine

Violation of the sacred species is the throwing away the consecrated species of Christ's body or blood or the taking or retaining of them for a sacrilegious purpose (CIC 1367).

https://www.catholic.com/qa/apart-from- ... munication

Some examples of offenses that incur an automatic excommunication, notwithstanding #1, above, are abortion, or casting the Holy Eucharist on the ground or discarding it in the sacrarium (the sink in the church sacristy that drains directly into the ground), or any intentional desecration of the Eucharist, or attacking a priest, religious brother, or nun.

the kids don't matter much it appears cept if they aren't born yet
https://forums.catholic.com/t/grave-sin ... n/393897/4

What a fucked up overdue for the trash bin meme catholicism is......a pox on them all.

So not even murder or rape earns the big X ....

I guess membership must be hard to come by