I don't think anyone has accused Pell of defending abusive priests, though. In fact, one of the reasons he was so unpopular with Melbourne priests was that he instantly suspended them at the first whisper of an accusation. (This isn't given a lot of publicity nowadays, but it really did happen - I was there). The Royal Commission did question him about abusive priests who were not suspended, but transferred - but he was quick to point out that he wasn't Archbishop at the time, and that the (now dead) Archbishop had made all the decisions about those priests. He also said the Catholic Education department didn't give him the information about the abusive parish priest even though he was the auxiliary bishop. (Barney Swartz mentions this in the article).