An Australian judge sentenced cardinal George Pell to six years in prison on March 13, 2019. In December 2018, Pell had already been tried and found guilty of the five charges, including orally raping a 13-year-old boy and indecently assaulting the boy and his 13-year-old friend in the late 1990’s. The abuse took place just months after the 77-year-old cardinal became archbishop of Melbourne. Pell is the highest-ranking Catholic official ever convicted of child sexual assault to date.