During the committal hearing of Cardinal George Pell in the Melbourne Magistrate's Court yesterday, the father of one of his alleged victims accused defence barrister Robert Richter QC of insulting him by suggesting that he made up allegations that his son was sexually assaulted by the Cardinal.
Cardinal Pell, 76, faces multiple historical sexual offence charges involving multiple complainants. A former Archbishop of Melbourne and then of Sydney who has been on leave for almost nine months from his Vatican post as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal Pell has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.
He has completed eight days of the hearing to determine whether he stands trial in a higher court. The precise charges against Cardinal Pell have not yet been revealed.
Magistrate Belinda Wallington twice intervened on Thursday during Mr Richter's questioning of the father, who cannot be identified. She later adjourned the hearing until Monday after the revelation that a fellow magistrate had died suddenly.
Other than 25 minutes on the opening day of the hearing on 5 March, the court was closed to the public and the media until Wednesday, as is the custom in the Victorian legal system in cases involving sexual offence charges while complainants give evidence. The hearing is due to conclude by Holy Thursday, 29 March.
On Thursday, Mr Richter questioned whether the father of an alleged victim was ever told the allegation in question was against Cardinal Pell, and he told the witness: "You have just made that up after you have made your statement."
"That's an insult, no," the father said.
"It may be an insult but it's true, is it not?" Mr Richter said.
"Absolutely not," the father replied.
The father said his son never named Cardinal Pell to him, but that another son confirmed the allegation was against the cardinal. He said he didn't know the details of the alleged offending but was "more concerned by the fact he was abused by priests".
Ms Wallington said that she was troubled by the line of questioning and told Mr Richter that the father had spoken about "priests in the plural" in his statement.
The father also responded angrily to Mr Richter's suggestion that he and his son were not close because he was unaware what treatment his son had in hospitals. The claim was "absolutely insulting", the father said. The family was close and he said "it's totally disrespectful to say that to a father".
Ms Wallington ruled Mr Richter's question inappropriate.
In the open hearing on Wednesday, Mr Richter claimed that a support group for sex abuse victims, Broken Rites, was first to raise the name “Pell” with one of the cardinal's accusers, before a report was made to police. But Broken Rites researcher and retired academic, Dr Bernard Barrett, denied this in an exchange with Mr Richter. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Dr Barrett told the hearing the man's mother had first contacted him to report that her son had been the victim of separate alleged sexual offending, but six months later claimed that he had also been offended against by Cardinal Pell. The Age newspaper reported that Dr Barrett rejected Mr Richter's suggestion that it would be a "feather in the cap" if he (Dr Barrett) could go to the police with Cardinal Pell's name.
"Did you mention Pell's name [to police]?" Mr Richter asked. "Emphatically no," Dr Barrett replied. "Why didn't you?", said Richter. "It's a matter for the victim", said Barrett.
Soon after the hearing reopened to the public, the court heard that one of Cardinal Pell's alleged victims died of a heroin overdose and that his father never suspected he had been sexually offended against.
The father said he was shocked when told of his son's allegations and had never suspected anything untoward occurred and that "it was never hinted that there was something going on".
He said his son never disclosed the allegations to him or the reason why he began using heroin. He said he learnt about his son's allegations against Cardinal Pell from the police.
Ms Wallington adjourned Thursday’s hearing after lunch, as did other magistrates, because of the death of their colleague Stephen Myall.
PICTURE: Cardinal George Pell arrives at the Melbourne Magistrates court in Melbourne, Wednesday, March 14, 2018. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
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