Cardinal George Pell lost his appeal against child sex abuse convictions today at Victoria's Supreme Court. Photo / AP
Cardinal George Pell lost his appeal against child sex abuse convictions today at Victoria's Supreme Court. Photo / AP
Cardinal George Pell has sensationally lost his appeal against child sex abuse convictions — and one of the judges has torn his defence to pieces.
Pell's appeal against his child sex abuse convictions was dismissed by the Victorian Court of Appeal this morning by a majority of two to one.
Chief Justice Anne Ferguson and Court of Appeal President Chris Maxwell dismissed it, while Justice Mark Weinberg upheld the appeal.
The two judges agreed it "was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt Cardinal Pell was guilty as charged" and also dismissed the appeal on technical grounds.
The decision means Australia's most prominent Catholic cleric will remain behind bars and continue to serve his six-year prison term.
Pell, 78, will be eligible for parole three years and eight months into his sentence, although he is also free to appeal the decision to dismiss his appeal in the High Court.
Documents seeking special leave to appeal must be filed within 28 days, although it is not guaranteed the High Court will agree to hear the matter.
Speaking shortly after the ruling was delivered, Chief Justice Anne Ferguson described in detail the reasons why the appeal had failed.
She explained all 13 of the submissions made by Pell's lawyers at appeal had been rejected, and that both she and Justice Maxwell believed it was possible for the offences to occur.
Cardinal George Pell will remain behind bars and continue to serve his six-year prison term. Photo / AP
Those 13 obstacles to Pell committing the crimes were put forward by his lawyers and included technical details such as the layout of the cathedral and the weight of Pell's robes.
Doubt over whether the crimes were physically possible to have been carried out had been central to Pell's defence, especially the maneuverability of Pell's robes at the time.
Pell's team had argued they were too heavy for Pell to have been able to move and expose his penis — but that claim was rejected after all three judges held the robes in question and were able to pick them up.
Justices Ferguson and Maxwell dismissed all 13 of those "obstacles" and found there was nothing in the complainant's evidence that would cause the jury to doubt the account.
"Part of Cardinal Pell's case on the appeal was that there were 13 solid obstacles in the path of a conviction. Justice Maxwell and I have rejected all 13," Justice Ferguson said.
"By way of example, one of the 13 obstacles was said to be that the acts alleged to have been committed by Cardinal Pell in the first incident were physically impossible.
"The defence relied on categorical statements by Monsignor and by the sacrister, that it was not possible to pull the Cardinal's robes to the side.
"The robes were an exhibit at the trial and had been available to the jury in the jury room during their deliberation.
"Having taken the advantage of the opportunity to feel the weight of the robes, and assess
