ROME — Cardinal George Pell, who was the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of child sex abuse and spent 404 days in solitary confinement in his native Australia only to have his convictions overturned, died Tuesday. He was 81.

Cardinal George Pell, whose sex abuse convictions were overturned, dies at 81

ROME - Cardinal George Pell, who was the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of child sex abuse and spent 404 days in solitary confinement in his native Australia only to have his convictions overturned, died Tuesday. He was 81. Pell died after undergoing hip surgery at Rome's Salvator Mundi hospital, said a friend, Rev.