Cardinal George Pell has been sentenced to six years in prison for abusing two boys in the 1990s. He is the highest-ranking official in the Catholic church to be convicted for sexually abusing minors. 

Pell served in the Vatican at one point in his career as the treasurer. But before that, in 1996, he served in a Melbourne cathedral. In December of 2018 a jury found him guilty of abusing two choir boys.

On Wednesday, Judge Peter Kidd sentenced Pell to six years in prison. "Your conduct was permeated by staggering arrogance," Kidd told Pell at sentencing, according to the BBC.

He will be eligible for parole after serving three years and eight months of his sentence.

Pell, however, maintains his innocence. He is appealing the verdict, which will be heard in June.