Police enter seminary where George Pell is staying in western Sydney - after 'new allegations of child abuse against him emerged'
- Police officers have visited seminary where acquitted Cardinal Pell is staying
- Footage showed officers entering the Good Shepherd Seminary in Homebush
- NSW Police said officers visited west Sydney complex to discuss security
- George Pell reportedly under investigation over allegations by new accuser
- He was released from prison just last week after child sex convictions quashed
Police officers have visited the seminary where George Pell is staying in Sydney a day after new allegations of child abuse reportedly emerged against him.
Footage taken outside the Good Shepherd Seminary in Homebush in the city's west on Tuesday afternoon showed uniformed officers entering the complex where Pell has been staying following the quashing of his child sex abuse convictions.
New South Wales Police said officers visited a premises in the suburb to discuss security arrangements.
Pictured: Pell arrives at the Seminary Of The Good Shepherd in Sydney on April 8. Police have entered the seminary on Tuesday, a day after it emerged new allegations of child abuse had reportedly been made against him
Footage of uniformed officers entering the seminary in Homebush. New South Wales Police said officers visited a premises in the suburb to discuss security arrangements
'About 2.30pm, officers from Auburn Police Area Command attended a premises on Abbotsford Road, Homebush, for a prearranged meeting to discuss security protocols,' a police spokesperson said.
On Easter Monday, the Herald Sun reported George Pell was facing fresh allegations of child abuse from a new accuser.
A week on from his successful High Court appeal against child sex convictions, reports said Victoria Police had been investigating a separate accusation against Pell, 78.
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A man who now works in a professional role reportedly made the accusation.
A spokeswoman for the cardinal said on Monday night: 'In any police matter there should be due process through the proper channels.'
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest the new allegations are true - only that police are reportedly investigating.
Cardinal Pell was not told of the fresh investigation until Monday, the paper reported.
A recorded interview between Cardinal Pell and Sky News Australia presenter Andrew Bolt will air on Tuesday night, in which Cardinal Pell said he 'wouldn't be entirely surprised' if police attempted to prosecute him again.
Bolt asked the cardinal whether he was ashamed of the Catholic church's handling of child sex abuse scandals.
'Yes. There are two levels. One is the crimes itself and then the treating it so inadequately for so long,' Cardinal Pell said.
George Pell leaves Barwon Prison on April 7 after his child sex convictions were quashed
'It's like cutting out a cancer. Please God, we've got rid of it.'
Cardinal Pell said he condemns 'these sort of activities', adding he has seen the damage sexual abuse has done to victims.
'One of the things that grieves me is the suggestion that I'm anti-victim, or not sufficiently sympathetic,' he said.
Pell also criticised the ABC's role in presenting a one-sided view of his legal ordeal.
Pope Benedict XVI with Cardinal George Pell in July 2008 at an inter-faith meeting in Sydney
'I believe in free speech,' Cardinal Pell said. 'I acknowledge the right of those who differ from me to just state their views.
'But in a national broadcaster, to have an overwhelming presentation of one view and only one view, that's a betrayal of the national interest.'
The ABC has said in a statement it stands by its reporters in the wake of Pell's release.
'The ABC has - and will continue to - report accurately and without fear or favour on stories that are in the public interest, including this one. We stand by our reporters and our stories,' a spokesperson said.
The interview also sheds light on Cardinal Pell's experiences in jail - where he befriended a number of inmates, including a convicted murderer.
Cardinal Pell (pictured in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City in 2013) has always maintained his innocence. He was not told of the reported fresh investigation until Monday
The cardinal won his appeal bid to the High Court on April 7 and walked free from Barwon Prison, near Geelong, after more than 400 days behind bars.
He travelled from Melbourne to Sydney on Wednesday - stopping briefly at a petrol station to buy a phone charger and newspapers.
Cardinal Pell arrived at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Homebush in Sydney's west, at about 9pm on April 8.
The 78-year-old travelled from Melbourne to Sydney on April 8 - stopping briefly at a petrol station (pictured)
He released a statement saying the serious injustice he suffered had been remedied.
'I hold no ill will to my accused, I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough,' he said on Tuesday.
The 78-year-old said his trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church or how Australian church authorities dealt with paedophilia.
The 78-year-old spoke candidly about the church's failings following his release from prison in a sit down interview with Sky News Australia presenter Andrew Bolt. Pell is pictured in 2008
'The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not,' he said.
In December 2018, a jury found Cardinal Pell guilty of five charges, accepting evidence of one complainant that the then-Archbishop of Melbourne had sexually abused him and another 13-year-old choirboy at St Patrick's Cathedral in 1996.
One of the choirboys died in 2014, prompting the other to bring the allegations to police.
In an initial trial, a jury was unable to reach a verdict. The second jury was unanimous in its decision. An appeal to Victoria's Court of Appeal last year was unsuccessful.
Cardinal Pell has always maintained his innocence, a fact noted in the High Court's 26-page decision.
