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

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