Jailed paedophile priest given eight more years behind bars
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Version 0 of 1. One of Australia’s most notorious paedophile priests has had his jail term extended by eight years after admitting another 30 abuse charges. Gerald Ridsdale, who was already serving a sentence for child sex offences, was due for parole last year when the new charges relating to the abuse of 12 boys and girls between 1961 and 1980 were laid against him. Victoria county court chief judge Michael Rozenes sentenced him to eight years in jail on Tuesday, with a stipulation that the 79-year-old must remain behind bars until at least 2019. Rozenes said Ridsdale's offending represented a serious and gross breach of trust between priest and parishioner. “Your offending had a particularly devastating effect on your victims,” he told the court in Melbourne. Ridsdale portrayed himself as the “friendly priest”, luring his 14 victims with inducements such as lollies to gain their trust before committing serious acts of abuse against them, the judge said. Many victims were extremely vulnerable and without families. Ridsdale told one of his victims, an altar boy, the abuse was a secret between them. “You know not to talk about the game we have played,” the priest said. The judge noted the effect on young victims was ongoing; a number of complainants attempted suicide. “Your offending was particularly abhorrent. Your victims were among the most vulnerable in the community – children,” he said. The victims, through impact statements, spoke of being powerless, humiliated, feeling like they were to blame, and disgust at the church. Rozenes said the fact Ridsdale was almost 80 and had been in custody for 20 years posed a difficult sentencing exercise. He took into account Ridsdale's guilty plea as a sign of remorse, as well as the fact the priest will be 84 before the sentence he is currently serving is completed. Ridsdale has now admitted to assaulting 53 children over three decades, starting in 1961 – the year he was ordained as a priest. He was jailed in 1994 for 18 years. Since then he has appeared before the courts on further charges twice. In 2006 his minimum term was increased by four years after he pleaded guilty to 35 charges against 10 boys. The latest set of offences including grooming a four-year-old victim by calling her “God's little angel” and telling an altar boy he was doing “the Lord's work” as he abused him. Ridsdale sat through the sentence with his hands in his lap, looking down. He showed no expression when he was sentenced and left the dock slowly, using a walking frame. |