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High Court to hand down Pell judgment

One of Australia's most high profile court cases will come to a close on Tuesday morning (April 7)--

as the country's High Court hands down its judgment on former Vatican treasurer George Pell's appeal against historical child sex offences.

The decision will likely bring to an end the long-running prosecution of the cardinal for sexually assaulting two teenage choirboys in the 1990s when he was Archbishop of Melbourne.

He is the highest ranking Catholic worldwide to be jailed for child sex offences.

The court could overturn his conviction, in which case Pell would walk free, or it could dismiss the appeal, leaving him in jail.

The case could also be sent back to a lower court, but legal experts considered that highly unlikely.

Pell was convicted by a jury in December 2018 on one charge of sexual penetration of a child under 16

and four charges of an indecent act with a child under 16.

He was sentenced to six years in prison and lost an appeal against his conviction in a lower court last August.

His appeal to the High Court was heard by seven justices over two days in March, during which questions about the prosecution's case were raised.

The decision will be delivered in the middle of Holy Week--the most important week in the Catholic calendar.