UPDATE

Cardinal George Pell walks free as child sex conviction quashed

78-year-old acquitted on all five counts of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys

Last updated: April 07, 2020 | 07:03

1 MIN READ

Australian Cardinal George Pell leaves after being released from Barwon Prison near Anakie, some 70 kilometres west of Melbourne, on April 7, 2020.

AFP

Brisbane: Cardinal George Pell left jail a free man Tuesday after Australia's High Court quashed his child sex abuse convictions.

The 78-year-old left Barwon Prison near Melbourne in the back seat of a black car, an AFP photographer at the scene witnessed.

He had been behind bars since March 2019.

He was acquitted on all five counts of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s, when the court overturned earlier decisions of a jury and lower appeals court.

The verdict is a major victory for Pell, who had steadfastly maintained his innocence.