Source: Australian Associated Press
Robert Richter apologises for describing George Pell's abuse as 'vanilla sex'
Australian Associated Press
Thu 28 Feb 2019 08.47 GMT
Robert Richter has apologised for his “terrible choice of phrase” in describing George Pell’s sexual abuse of a 13-year-old choirboy as “vanilla sexual penetration”.
The queen’s counsel has been widely criticised for the remark, which came during a plea hearing for the cardinal who is now behind bars awaiting sentence for orally raping the boy, and molesting him and another 13-year-old after a Sunday mass in 1996.
Richter was attempting to note there were no aggravating features to Pell’s offending, at a time when he was newly installed as archbishop of Melbourne at St Patrick’s cathedral.
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“In seeking to mitigate sentence I used a wholly inappropriate phrase for which I apologise profusely to all who interpreted it in a way it was never intended: it was in no way meant to belittle or minimise the suffering and hurt of victims of sex abuse, and in retrospect I can see why it caused great offence to many,” he wrote in a statement.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/28/robert-richter-apologises-for-describing-george-pells-abuse-as-vanilla-sex
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