The Southwell inquiry was an investigation by AJ Southwell, a former Australian judge, into sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, specifically allegations that in 1961 George Pell, then a seminarian and later Archbishop of Sydney, had abused a 12-year-old boy, now a 53-year-old man who could not be named, at a Roman Catholic youth camp.
Hon AJ Southwell, QC, a retired judge and an Anglican, was appointed a commissioner by the National Committee for Professional Standards (NCPS), the church's internal process for dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct, to conduct an inquiry into the allegations.
In the end, and notwithstanding that impression of the complainant, bearing in mind the forensic difficulties of the defence occasioned by the very long delay, some valid criticism of the complainant's credibility, the lack of corroborative evidence and the sworn denial of the respondent, I find I am not 'satisfied that the complaint has been established', to quote the words of the principal term of reference.
As relayed by the Zenit news service, "Pell's alleged victim was, it turned out, a career criminal.
He had been convicted of drug dealing and involved in illegal gambling, tax evasion and organized crime in a labor union.