Australian Church head in sex abuse probe

THE head of Australia’s Roman Catholic Church yesterday announced he would temporarily step aside during an investigation into allegations he sexually abused a child.

Sydney Archbishop George Pell is accused of molesting a 12-year-old boy when he was a trainee priest in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, the church said in a statement. The year the alleged incident took place was not immediately known.

“The alleged events never happened. I repeat emphatically, that the allegations are false,” Pell said in a statement. “To allege that I am ... personally implicated in this evil is a smear of the most vindictive kind.”