Melbourne, Feb 26 (AFP) Cardinal George Pell, the third-ranking official in the Vatican, has been found guilty of child sex crimes in Australia, becoming the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted for child sexual abuse, court officials reported Tuesday.

Pell, 77, was found guilty by a trial jury in December of sexually assaulting two choirboys in the sacristy of Melbourne's Saint Patrick's Cathedral in the 1990s.

A wide-ranging gag order issued by the Melbourne court in May had prevented media from reporting Pell's conviction or even the existence of his trial.

The order was lifted on Tuesday. (AFP)

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