George Pell will spend his six year sentence living with child sex offenders in a ‘protection prison’ that separates them from other prisoners – and he’ll be reunited with his former housemate and Australia’s most notorious paedophile priest.
Australia’s highest ranking Catholic, 78, lost his appeal on Wednesday for sexually abusing two choirboys and will remain in jail until at least October 2022 – when he will be 81.
Pell will likely spend most of that time in the Hopkins Correctional Facility in Ararat, west of Melbourne, which is designed for sex offenders, especially paedopiles.
The medium-security prison houses 762 criminals – most of whom require isolation from the general prison population – including corrupt cops, sex offenders, including priests and brothers.
Disgraced Cardinal George Pell leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria after losing his appeal against child sex convictions. He will now be forced to serve his prison sentence
Pictured: One of the cells inside the correctional facility in Ararat, west of Melbourne, which is designed for sex offenders, especially paedopiles
Inside, Pell will be reunited his former 1970s housemate in Ballarat, and the nation’s most notorious paedophile priest, Gerald Ridsdale, The Age reported.
The now 84-year-old abused 65 boys and girls, some as young as four, and has been in jail since 1993.
The pair lived together in the parish house of St Alipius in Ballarat East in 1973. Pell claimed to be unaware of Ridsdale’s offending.
Paedophiles are at the bottom rung of the prison pecking order, and are at constant risk of being beaten by other inmates.
Inside the Ararat prison there is a swimming pool, basketball courts and a football oval.
There is a variety of accommodation inside the facility, including single, double and triple cells.
The medium security prison is home to 762 convicts – most of whom require isolation from the general prison population and include corrupt police and other priests and brothers
There is a variety of accommodation inside the facility, including single, double and triple cells
Paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale (left) and George Pell (right) outside of the magistrates court in 1993
Notorious paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale might be reunited with his former 1970s housemate
Inmates spend their days working at on-site factories creating number plates, doing screen-printing or woodwork.
Once a top Catholic Church official, Pell will now be just another prisoner subject to standard rules and requirements that will govern his life.
Just down the road from the prison is Corella Place – also known as the ‘Village of the Damned’.
It is home of some of Australia’s worst paedophiles and violent rapists.
Hopkins Correctional Facility in Ararat, west of Melbourne is home to 762 convicts – most of whom require isolation from the general prison population
The facility, which features a swimming pool, basketball courts and a football oval is a specialist prison for vulnerable inmates
The convicted criminals, who are too dangerous to return to society after jail, are allowed to carry mobile phones and are free to come and go as they please during daylight hours but must be accompanied by two guards.
Residents are forced to wear GPS ankle bracelets so they can be tracked if they try to escape.
Daily Mail Australia understands there is a hierarchy at Corella with rapists at the top and child sex offenders at the bottom.
There is also the chance he could end up in Langi Kal Kal Prison, a minimum security prison between Melbourne and Ararat where vulnerable inmates are also housed.
He has been locked up in the protection wing of Melbourne Assessment Prison to prevent him from being attacked as a hated paedophile by other inmates
At the height of his power, Cardinal George Pell blew $750,000 on luxuries like fancy gowns and extravagant furniture while living in a $30 million flat – but now he’s going to jail
He will undergo a review by Correction Victoria’s Sentence Management Unit where he can indicate where he would prefer to be placed.
The disgraced Cardinal has been in protective custody at the Melbourne Assessment Prison in west Melbourne where he spends 23 hours a day in a cell.
The 78-year-old has been in protective custody at the Melbourne Assessment Prison in west Melbourne where he spends 23 hours a day in a cell.
Bourke Street mass murderer, James Gargasoulas, in a cell next to him, while and two brothers accused of plotting a terror attack were in a cell on the other side.
For an hour a day he would shuffle under guard to a small exercise yard rimmed with razor wire, feeling the sun on his face with only watchful guards for company.
Just down the road from the prison is Corella Place – also known as the ‘Village of the Damned’
Residents inside the Village of the Damned live by an unwritten moral code. Rapists are placed at the top while paedophiles sit at the foot of the hierarchy
The Corella Place compound houses sex criminals who have been released from prison but are deemed to dangerous to live in the community
Pell’s unsuccessful appeal is likely to bring an end to the ongoing saga, which has dragged on for years across three court jurisdictions.
The Church released a statement following the failed appeal.
‘While reiterating its respect for the Australian judicial system, as stated on 26 February after the first instance verdict was announced, the Holy See acknowledges the court’s decision to dismiss Cardinal Pell’s appeal,’ the statement read.
‘As the proceedings continue to develop, the Holy See recalls that the Cardinal has always maintained his innocence throughout the judicial process and that it is his right to appeal to the High Court.’
Pell was dumped from his position as Vatican treasurer upon conviction but a decision on whether to defrock him was left until after the appeal.