Court Likely to Withdraw Charge of Key Accuser in Cardinal Pell Abuse Case

Catholic News Agency ^ | 2/15/18 | Elise Harris

[marshmallow]

Melbourne, Australia, Feb 15, 2018 / 10:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard Wednesday that a charge related to a key witness in the case against Cardinal George Pell, accused of historical sexual abuse, is likely to be withdrawn.

In the Feb. 14 hearing, the director of prosecutions for the Melbourne Magistrates Court said that while they had not decided on the matter, the charge of a key complainant who died in January would likely be withdrawn.

Defense attorney Ruth Shann argued against the man's credibility, saying Pell's legal team would be examining the credibility of the “unreliable” witness when the formal four-week committal hearing begins March 5.

The witness, Damian Dignan, who died of leukemia in early January, and a fellow classmate at St. Alipius school in Ballarat accused Pell in 2016 of inappropriate sexual behavior when they were minors. The cardinal had previously been accused of acts of child sexual abuse dating as far back as 1961.

Shann said Dignan's complaints – which he made to Australia's Royal Commission in 2015, nearly 40 years after the alleged abuse, after reading about other cases in the commission in newspapers – had a “domino effect” in terms of other people contacting the police.

She said Pell's lawyers had subpoenaed material from the Dignan's lawyer and that they would pursue material connected to his complaint whether it was included as part of the case or not, since he was the “starting point,” and other accusers who spoke out after can't be understood without first dealing with their knowledge of Dignan's own complaint.

Pell's legal team last week subpoenaed medical records for other complainants to build their argument, however, the magistrate overseeing Wednesday's hearing, Belinda Wallington, denied the request due to a lack of what she believed was “substantial probative.....

[utahagen]

It should give you an idea of how NOT guilty Cardinal Pell is that Pope Francis has done ZERO to demonstrate any support for him at any time. Pell is a good man and a good priest who has labored to keep the Church alive in Australia for decades. He has been attacked from within and without the Church relentlessly. I’ve read extensively about the case against him and I think there is nothing to it at all. Pray for Cardinal Pell.

[Kartographer]

The old eastern block countries know and will stand!

[BlackVeil]

The press coverage of this case has been appalling. There has been no respect for the notion of a fair trial.

[utahagen]

The silver lining to the how badly Cardinal Pell has been treated by the press is that they (the media) have been so brazenly contemptuous of Pell that it has alerted many people that this perhaps has been a witch hunt.