FROM ALLEGATIONS TO CONVICTION: A TIMELINE OF THE PELL CASE
1996
- Pell appointed Archbishop of Melbourne by Pope John Paul II
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- Pell sexually abuses two 13-year-old choirboys after a Sunday solemn mass at St Patrick's Cathedral, according to a jury finding on Tuesday
- A second indecent act is committed by Pell against one of the choirboys in a corridor at the Cathedral, according to a jury finding on .
2016
- The Herald Sun reports Pell is being investigated by Victoria Police's Sano taskforce for "multiple offences" committed while he was a priest in Ballarat and Archbishop of Melbourne
- Pell says the allegations are "without foundation and utterly false" and calls for an inquiry into how the police investigation became public
- Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton asks the anti-corruption watchdog to investigate the leak, but denies it came from police
- Pell gives evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse's inquiry into abuse in Ballarat
- Under Vatican rules, Pell gives Pope Francis his resignation on his 75th birthday, as is customary. It is not accepted
- Victoria Police investigators hand over to the state's Office of Public Prosecutions a brief of evidence on allegations of sexual abuse by Pell
- Officers travel to Rome to interview Pell over the abuse claims. He voluntarily participates in the interview.
2017
- Police present their final brief of evidence to the Office of Public Prosecutions to consider charges
- Prosecutors give police the green light to charge Pell.
JUNE 2017
- Pell is charged with multiple counts of historic child sex offences
- He denies the charges and vows to clear his name
- Lawyers for Pell appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court
- Pell takes leave from his Vatican finance chief role to fight the charges.
JULY 2017
- Pell returns to Australia
- He hires top barrister Robert Richter QC
- Supporters set up a fund to help Pell fight the charges.
MARCH 2018
- Prosecutors drop one of the charges against Pell
- A month-long committal hearing begins to determine if Pell will face trial
- Prosecutors withdraw more charges
- Mr Richter claims police conducted a "get Pell operation" and accuses magistrate Belinda Wallington of bias. She refuses to disqualify herself from the case.
MAY 2018
- Magistrate Belinda Wallington orders Pell stand trial on some charges, but throws out others
- Pell formally pleads "not guilty"
- Two trials are ordered, separating the 1970s and 1990s allegations
- A Victorian County Court employee is sacked for looking up information on the Pell case.
AUGUST 2018
- The 1990s "cathedral trial" begins in the Victorian County Court in Melbourne
- Pell pleads not guilty again to one charge of sexual penetration of a child under 16 and four of indecent acts with a child, over incidents involving two 13-year-old choirboys at St Patrick's Cathedral in 1996.
SEPTEMBER 2018
- The jury is discharged, unable to reach a verdict following a week of deliberation. Some jurors weep.
NOVEMBER 2018
- A retrial begins. The jury aren't told of the previous hung jury.
DECEMBER 2018
- Pell is found guilty on all charges by an unanimous jury
- Mr Richter says Pell will appeal
- Suppression orders prevent Australian media reporting the verdict but it spreads through international media within hours.
FEBRUARY 2019
- Hearings begin ahead of the second trial. Prosecutors drop another charge
- An appeal is filed against the cathedral trial conviction
- A County Court judge deems vital evidence inadmissible
- Prosecutors withdraw all remaining charges against Pell and drop a second trial over allegations Pell indecently assaulted boys in Ballarat in the 1970s when he was a priest in Ballarat
- Pell is due to be taken into custody on Wednesday February 27 as the plea hearing begins.
MARCH 2019
- Pell is due to be sentenced by County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd.
Australian Associated Press
