Updated
Cardinal George Pell has had his bail revoked in the County Court in Melbourne, meaning tonight he will spend his first night behind bars.
Key points:
- George Pell was convicted of five child sex offences in December
- He will be sentenced on March 13
- He has withdrawn an application for bail and will remain in custody
Pell, 77, been remanded in custody for the first time on five child sex offence charges, which he was convicted of last December.
A jury found him guilty of sexually abusing two choirboys when he was archbishop of Melbourne in the late 1990s.
Pell will be sentenced on March 13.
“Goodbye you creep,” a woman called out as Pell walked from the dock and into custody accompanied by corrections officers.
Pell had been granted bail after his conviction in December last year, because he required knee surgery in Sydney.
He will now be taken to the Melbourne Assessment Prison, which sits on the edge of the city’s CBD near Southern Cross Station and a few blocks from the County Court.
He will enter via a side entrance, through a secure airlock, with a rolling metal door on either side.
Prison life begins
Upon entry, Pell was expected to undergo the same process as all prisoners, which would involve him handing over his belongings, signing a receipt and awaiting assessment.
The process includes basic checks, such as his physical and mental condition and whether he is taking any medication.
An assessment will also take into consideration his personal safety.
The risk is likely to be high, given his public profile and the nature of the crimes for which he has been convicted.
Offenders against children are often regarded as targets for violence within the prison system.
Prisoners are allowed one pair of shoes, one pair of pyjamas, and six pairs of underwear and socks.
They are also allowed six books and six magazines.
Clothing is also restricted to four tops and four pairs of jeans, trousers or shorts.
The only exception is the suit of clothes George Pell has chosen to wear to court next week for sentencing.
Pell will also be given an opportunity to nominate people for their visit and telephone call lists and are allowed to make one phone call.
As he left the court, Pell’s lawyer, Robert Richter QC was asked how he thought Pell would go in prison.
“Well, I hope,” he responded.
‘Callous, brazen offending’
Pell’s pre-sentencing hearing was told his crimes each carried maximum jail terms of 10 years.
Prosecutor Mark Gibson SC told Chief Judge Peter Kidd that Pell’s offending involved two vulnerable boys and should be classed as serious.
“These acts … were, in our submission, humiliating and degrading towards each boy and gave rise to distress in each boy,” he said.
“There has been a breach of trust in this case in the sense that Cardinal Pell was the driving force and in charge of this cathedral and these two choristers were a cog in the cathedral wheel … in Sunday masses.”
Mr Gibson said Pell had displayed a “degree of callous indifference” by continuing his attack on the boys despite their protests.
Mr Richter said the crimes were “no more than a plain vanilla sexual penetration case where the child is not volunteering or actively participating”.
But Judge Kidd said that he did view it as a “serious example of this kind of offending”, and that the objective fact was that it was a “forcible, blatant attack on two boys”.
“I see this as callous, brazen offending … he did have in his mind some sense of impunity,” he said.
“I’m not near [considering this] low-end offending, I’m not even near it in my mind.”
Lawyers acting for Pell said in a statement today said that he continued to maintain his innocence “despite the unprecedented media coverage”.
The statement said Pell had not applied for bail because he believed it was “appropriate for him to await sentencing” and an appeal has already been lodged.
“Like any person he has the right to pursue his legal rights and will do so.”
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