MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse will be sentenced to prison Wednesday in an Australia landmark case that has polarized observers.

Some describe the prosecution as proof that the church is no longer above the law, while others suspect Cardinal George Pell has been made a scapegoat for the church's sins.

Pope Francis' former finance minister has been jailed in Melbourne since a sentencing hearing in the Victoria state County Court in February.

He will be sentenced on Wednesday for five convictions for sexually abusing two 13-year-old boys in the late 1990s.

Each conviction carries a potential 10-year maximum sentence. The sentences for each conviction are likely to be served concurrently.