New legal woes for Cardinal Pell

Cardinal George Pell, who is currently in jail in Australia awaiting sentencing on five child sex offences, is facing new legal problems. He is being sued in the Supreme Court of Victoria for another alleged child abuse offense.

The Supreme Court of Victoria announced that a civil claim was filed late on Wednesday against Pell, the state of Victoria, the trustees of the Sisters of Nazareth, and Child and Family Services Ballarat, .

The claimant cannot be named for legal reasons and the court did not make the claim public.

Australian media reports indicated that the lawsuit was being filed by a man who had been set to testify in a second child abuse trial against Pell, which was dropped when the prosecutor withdrew the charges last month.

The man was seeking damages for psychiatric injury, loss of wages and medical expenses as a result of the alleged offense in the late 1970s. He was a ward of the state at the St Joseph’s Boys Home in Ballarat at the time of the alleged incident. The home was run by the female Catholic order, the Sisters of Nazareth.

Pell is the most senior Catholic priest to have been convicted on child sex offences. He is due to be sentenced on March 13 .

Via Reuters