Cardinal George Pell loses appeal against child sex abuse convictions in Australia
Jailed former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell has lost his appeal against child sex offence convictions.
Supreme Court of Victoria Chief Justice Anne Ferguson read out a summary of the decision on Wednesday morning.
Pell, 78, was sentenced in March to six years in prison after a jury found him guilty of five sexual offences against two choirboys at St Patrick's Cathedral in the late 1990s, when he was archbishop of Melbourne.
The cardinal, who has maintained his innocence ever since facing the allegations in 2016, is the most senior Catholic cleric worldwide to have been jailed for child sex offences.
Legal experts had said that whatever the outcome, the decision would likely be appealed to Australia's High Court. Pell's lawyers had not said how they would respond if they lost the appeal.