Man Alters Cardinal George Pell's Plaque To Say 'Convicted Pedophile'
But Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney claimed image was 'doctored'
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A well-known comedian has risked being arrested after he reportedly defaced a plaque of Cardinal George Pell in Sydney by supergluing a second plate stating the former archbishop is also a "convicted "pedophile"
Charles Firth from the satirical group The Chaser visited the plaque on the grounds of St Mary's Cathedral before sticking a gold-colored plate with the words "and convicted pedophile."
"The worst thing that will happen is I'll end up in jail, but as long as I don't end up in the same block as George Pell I will be fine," Firth told AAP.
The Chaser posted the video on Wednesday evening on Facebook, which showed Firth adding a plate to the plaque.
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"Here's George Pell's plaque proudly on display," Firth said in Wednesday's video.
"It's missing his most noteworthy achievement. We're going to have to fix that."
After the plate was added, he said:
"There we go, much better: 'Cardinal George Pell AC, eighth Archbishop of Sydney 2001 (to) 2014 ... and convicted pedophile."
But the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney denied Pell's plaque had been defaced, arguing it was "doctored."
"It hasn't actually been put on the plaque, it hasn't been defaced, it's been doctored on photoshop," a spokeswoman told AAP.
We hope this time the evidence sticks pic.twitter.com/yPkluSOqYy
— The Chaser (@chaser) August 22, 2019
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Firth was shocked by the church's denial because of"overwhelming evidence."
"First they deny they have a problem with pedophilia and now they are denying acts of vandalism caught directly on video," Firth said.
"How much evidence do they actually need to be convinced of anything?"
Cardinal George Pell was the highest-ranking Catholic Church official ever to be convicted of child sex offenses.
Pell, who was the Catholic Church's most powerful clergy in Australia before he fled to the Vatican, attacked both 13-year-old boys while they were on scholarships at the prestigious St Kevin's College.
One of the victims has since died, but a second gave evidence to the court through video link, and Senior Crown Prosecutor Mark Gibson SC later quoted his statement during the hearing.
The victim testified that he was a choirboy at St Patrick's Cathedral at the time of the offenses, explaining that he was too shocked by the horrific events to report the incident to anyone when it first happened.
