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Two new accusers say George Pell abused them when they were boys in the 1970s

Pontifical Secret George Pell

Title: Two new accusers say George Pell abused them when they were boys in the 1970s

Author: Sarah Ferguson

Publisher: ABC News

Date: 02APR2020

For decades, 53-year-old Bernie* kept the secrets of his childhood deeply buried.

As a boy growing up in a Ballarat orphanage in the 1970s, Bernie told the ABC’s Revelation program that he was abused on multiple occasions by George Pell, then a priest in the diocese of Ballarat.

For years Bernie was convinced that if he reported the abuse, he would not be believed.

“I would hear Pell’s become Bishop,” Bernie says.

“Pell’s become Archbishop. Pell’s become a Cardinal. Who’s gonna believe a little boy from a home against that conglomerate? You know against that bloody goliath?”

This is the first time Bernie has told his story publicly, but in March 2016, Victoria Police contacted Bernie as part of a wide-ranging investigation of historical sexual abuse allegations against Pell.

That investigation led to Pell’s conviction last year on charges of abusing two choir boys in Melbourne Cathedral in the 1990s.

Additional allegations, including Bernie’s, were either withdrawn, dismissed or dropped when a planned second trial of George Pell was abandoned by the Victorian DPP.

Pell is currently in prison, awaiting the outcome of an appeal to the high court against his conviction. Pell says he is innocent of all sexual abuse allegations.

For more information visit: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12109952

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