Police are investigating child-abuse allegations against Australia's most senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, the ABC has reported.
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The allegations have now been referred by Victoria Police to the Office of Public Prosecutions for advice, the ABC reports.
The ABC's 7.30 program has revealed the taskforce has been examining allegations from complainants in Ballarat, Torquay and Melbourne for more than a year, and is looking into incidents that allegedly happened during Cardinal Pell's time as Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s.
The program has obtained eight police statements from complainants, witnesses and family members who are helping the taskforce with its investigation.
According to the ABC, complaints include those by two men, now in the 40s, from Ballarat.
A reporter spoke to several people in Ballarat and Torquay, who told 7.30 they feared Cardinal Pell may never come back to Australia and face their claims against him, after he failed travel to Ballarat and give evidence at Royal Commission hearings in February.
"I was shattered, absolutely shattered," one complainant said, about hearing Cardinal Pell could not travel to Australia due to a heart condition.
"He should be ashamed of what happened to us - it's not our fault."
"I'm disgusted, I'm angry. I just want him to come back and look in me in the eye," a second complainant said.
They hoped sharing their story would help others come forward.
In a statement to the ABC, Cardinal Pell's office said he "emphatically and unequivocally rejects any allegations of sexual abuse against him".
The statement, dated July 22, said "the claims that he has sexually abused anyone, in any place, at any time in his life are totally untrue and completely wrong".
"He denies the allegations absolutely, and says that they, and any allegations of them by the ABC are nothing ore than a scandalous smear campaign which appears to be championed by the ABC," the statement said.
"If there was any credibility in any of these claims, they would have been pursued by the Royal Commission by now."
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said police had no comment "at this time".