A brief of evidence compiled by detectives investigating claims of sexual abuse made against Ballarat’s Cardinal George Pell has been returned to prosecutors for review.
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Victoria Police confirmed on Monday that a brief of evidence against Cardinal Pell had been returned to the Office of Public Prosecutions.
It is the most significant development in the case against the Cardinal since Sano Taskforce detectives flew to Rome to interview him in October.
The Director of Public Prosecutions John Champion, SC, previously reviewed the brief, but returned it to police without recommendations, saying any decision on potential charges was their call.
On Monday, police spokeswoman Leonie Johnson said: "Investigators have delivered the brief to the Department of Public Prosecutions for consideration."
There is no suggestion Cardinal Pell is guilty of the allegations, only that they are being investigated.
Police are investigating multiple sexual assault allegations against Cardinal Pell, said to have occurred in Ballarat East between 1976 and 1980, and East Melbourne between 1996 and 2001.
The allegations include claims Cardinal Pell touched children's genitals while they swam at a Ballarat's Eureka public pool. One man claimed he saw the priest expose himself to young boys at the Torquay Surf Life Saving Club in the late 1980s.
Three detectives travelled to Rome in October to meet the former Ballarat priest and Melbourne archbishop, who voluntarily participated in an interview.
The Cardinal, who is in charge of the Vatican's finances, has vehemently denied the allegations, describing the claims as "without foundation and utterly false".
The development in the police investigation comes after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released world-first data on Monday showing almost 4500 people made allegations of child sexual abuse to church authorities over 35 years.
