Bishop convicted, 23 years later

The NY Times reports:

George Pell, an Australian cardinal who was the Vatican’s chief financial officer and an adviser to Pope Francis, was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday, for molesting two boys after Sunday Mass in 1996.

The cardinal was convicted on five counts in December, making him the most senior Catholic official — and the first bishop — to be found guilty in a criminal court for sexually abusing minors, according to BishopAccountability.org, which tracks cases of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.

There is a lot of talk about allegations like this, but convictions are extremely rare.

Here is a very high profile case. But the conviction is based on the testimony of one anonymous kid who suddenly remembers it and files a claim 23 years later. There is no physical or objective evidence.

I don't know if he did it or not. But I don't see how anyone else can know either.