New lawsuit filed against ex-Pope aide over alleged child sex abuse

Australian Cardinal George Pell — the third-most senior Catholic Church official in the world until recently — has been sued for yet another child sexual offence, less than two weeks after he was convicted of such abuse.

A 50-year-old man who says he was molested by the disgraced cardinal back in the 1970s lodged a lawsuit against him in the Supreme Court of Victoria, the senior tribunal announced Thursday, without identifying the claimant.

The cardinal had been found guilty last December of four charges of indecently dealing with two 13-year-old boys and one charge of sexual assault on one of them. The ruling was not announced until February due to a gag order.

The senior priest formerly served as one of the closest advisors to Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, but was removed from the position only days after the then unreported verdict was issued.

On February 26, when the gag order was lifted, the Vatican said Pell’s position as the prefect of its Secretariat for the Economy – one of the highest roles in the Catholic hierarchy --has not been renewed.

Pell will, however, remain a cardinal at least until his appeal is heard, the Vatican added.

The cardinal has so far pleaded not guilty and seeks to appeal his conviction. He is in custody awaiting sentencing on March 13. He faces a maximum jail sentence of 10 years for each charge.

The new claimant had been due to testify in a second criminal trial against Pell, which was dropped by the Australian prosecutors last month.

The man then decided to take civil action and lodge a lawsuit against the cardinal. He says he was a victim of physical and sexual abuse while in the care of St. Joseph’s Boys Home in Ballarat between 1974 and 1978, according to media reports.

Although many Catholic clerics have faced sex abuse allegations in recent years, Pell is by far the highest-ranking church official ever to have been found guilty of such crimes, and his case has rocked the Vatican.

Pope Francis himself came under fire last year for not responding decisively to the Church’s sex abuse crisis after it was revealed that children, mostly boys, were being abused by clergymen in their congregations across the world.

He summoned key bishops from around the world to a summit held earlier at the Vatican to discuss the issue and find a solution to protect children from sexual abuse in the Church.