Cardinal George Pell, 77—the most senior Catholic cleric ever to be convicted of child sex abuse—was sentenced to six years in prison in Australia on March 13, NBC News reported.

Pell could have gotten as many as 50 years in prison after being convicted last December for the molestation of two 13-year-old choir boys while he was the archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. Additionally, he will spend the rest of his life as a registered sex offender.

Pell and his attorneys plan to appeal his conviction at the Victoria Court of Appeal on June 5.

The NBC News item is at Website Link Here .