Police in Melbourne will look into an unredacted report on Australia's top cleric George Pell claiming he knew that the clergy had been abusing children, media said Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th May, 2020) Police in Melbourne will look into an unredacted report on Australia's top cleric George Pell claiming he knew that the clergy had been abusing children, media said Thursday.
The cardinal was cleared of child sexual abuse charges in April, allowing the royal commission to publish the report in full. It said it found implausible that Pell had not been aware of the crimes committed by priests in Australian parishes by 1973.
"We will ... undertake an assessment of those findings," a spokeswoman for Victoria Police was quoted as saying by the Guardian newspaper.
She told the daily that "it would not be appropriate to comment further about any possible action" until the police received a copy of the report.
The 78-year-old cardinal has reacted with disdain to the commission's findings, saying in a statement that its views were "not supported by evidence." He denied that the clergy had discussed paedophile priests Gerald Ridsdale and Peter Searson at their meetings.
