Prosecutors: Australian cardinal's convictions should stand

FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2019, file photo, Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. Pell, the most senior Catholic convicted of child sex abuse will soon ask an Australian appeals court to reverse convictions on charges of molesting two choirboys in a cathedral more than 20 years ago. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)

Cardinal George Pell, center rear, arrives at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Wednesday, June 5, 2019. The most senior Catholic found guilty of child sex abuse has begun his appeal in an Australian court against his convictions of molesting two choirboys in a cathedral more than 20 years ago. Cardinal George Pell appeared in court wearing a cleric's collar for the hearing being heard by three judges. Formerly the pope's finance minister, Pell had been sentenced in March to six years in prison. (Julian Smith/AAP Image via AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia – Prosecutors have argued in an Australian appeals court that child sex convictions against a Roman Catholic cardinal should not be overturned and say his accuser had been a compelling witness.

Cardinal George Pell is the most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse and is appealing those guilty verdicts in the Victoria state Court of Appeal.

Prosecutor Chris Boyce told the three judges on Thursday that the convictions largely based on the testimony of a single accuser should stand.

A jury unanimously convicted Pell in December of orally raping a 13-year-old choirboy and indecently dealing with the boy and the boy's 13-year-old friend in a Melbourne cathedral in the late 1990s.

One of the boys, now in his 30s, was the key prosecution witness in the case.

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