Columnist launches attack on Victorian police chief as force insists investigation of cardinal followed usual procedure for allegations of historical sex offences

The News Corp columnist Miranda Devine has defended George Pell on Twitter, saying his charges have been drummed up by Victoria police as a distraction from a supposed crime epidemic in that state.

After Pell was charged on Thursday morning, Devine said on Twitter that the media was pre-judging Pell and said he could not possibly get a fair trial.

“Victoria police chief Graham Ashton desperate for a distraction from the crime epidemic he’s incapable of stopping #HuntingCatholics,” Devine said.

Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) Victoria Police Chief Graham Ashton desperate for a distraction from the crime epidemic he's incapable of stopping #HuntingCatholics https://t.co/fyX5hDnxLv

“How would you like to be labelled a pedophile,” she asked. “Pell is supposed to be charged with exactly what I don’t know.

“But a fair trial can’t be now. Let due process prevail not Christian hate. I don’t defend churches’ shameful history of child sexual abuse. I am objecting to the feral prejudging of Cardinal Pell.

Cardinal George Pell charged with multiple sexual offences Read more

“Cardinal Pell is not charged with what you say but congratulations on the smear which ensures no fair trial.”

The Daily Telegraph columnist is a practising Catholic and has characterised the investigation of Pell as a witch-hunt of Catholics in particular and Christians in general and has used the hashtag #HuntingCatholics.

She accused the police of ignoring the alleged crimes of African refugees while targeting Pell because he is a Catholic leader and they blame him for the crimes of other abusers in the church.

“Church paedophilia is deadly serious but justice not served by hysterical witch-hunts cooked up because Pell wrongly perceived as the ‘boss’,” she said on Thursday.

Devine appeared to agree with a follower who said the gleeful reaction from the atheist and Twitter left-wing confirmed it was a witch-hunt.

She also retweeted this: “If George Pell were an African refugee, Ashton would deny there even had been a crime.”

Devine has accused Victorian police commissioner Graham Ashton of having a vendetta against Pell in earlier columns.

“Instead of locking up crooks, Victoria police have become do-gooder agents of social change,” she wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “Last year they embraced the gender scolds of the Victoria Human Rights Commission who made the usual ‘shocking’ claims of entrenched sexual harassment and discrimination.

“When he’s not pondering gender quotas, Ashton reserves his zeal for a self-serving vendetta against Catholic Cardinal George Pell, which wins plaudits from the ABC.”

The comments prompted a backlash with people tweeting their disgust at the suggestion Pell should not have been charged. One user accused Devine of trivialising child abuse while another who identified as a Catholic said he thought Devine’s comments were “the absolute worst”.

Stuart Fazakerley (@stuartfaz) miranda, as a catholic, I can assure you that this is up there with the absolute worst of takes

thomas violence (@thomas_violence) i reckon trivialising child sex abuse to incoherently point score in your weird culture war is a really good look and this will age well

Tony Martin (@mrtonymartin) WTF Victoria Police? Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine HAVE ALREADY CLEARED HIM! https://t.co/2zzcYsY6cX

On Thursday morning Victoria police’s deputy commissioner, Shane Patton, said: “During the course of the investigation in relation to Cardinal Pell, there has been a lot of reporting in the media and speculation about the process that has been involved in the investigation and also the charging.

“For clarity, I want to be perfectly clear, the process and procedures that are being followed in the charging of Cardinal Pell have been the same that have been applied in a whole range of historical sex offences whenever we investigate them.

“The fact that he has been charged on summons, we have used advice from the office of public prosecutions and also we have engaged with his legal representatives is common and standard practice. There has been no change in any procedures whatsoever. Advice was received and sought from the office of public prosecutions, however, ultimately, the choice to charge Cardinal Pell was one that was made by Victoria police.



“Cardinal Pell, like any other defendant, has a right to due process and so, therefore, it is important that the process is allowed to run its natural course.”

Patton said as the matter was now due before the court, police would be making no further comment.