More jail for sex priest

AUSTRALIA’S worst paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale abused his position of trust in unprecedented offending over three decades, says a judge who added another five years to his overall jail term.

The former Catholic priest has been sentenced to 11 years’ jail for abusing another dozen children, including a 10-yearold girl sexually assaulted on a church altar.

That adds another five years to his overall sentence, taking it to 33 years. Victorian County Court Judge Irene Lawson said Ridsdale’s appalling pattern of offending was quickly established following his ordination in 1961.

“Each of the complainants were young, vulnerable and were exploited by you for your own sexual gratifications,” Judge Lawson said yesterday.

“Your actions were violent and abusive.”

Judge Lawson said Ridsdale abused his position of trust. “You were a revered priest and trusted by devout Catholic families who respected you as God’s representative on earth.”

Ridsdale has now pleaded guilty in five court cases to abusing 65 children during his three decades as a parish priest in western Victoria, although his true number of victims is believed to be in the hundreds.

Judge Lawson sentenced Ridsdale to 11 years’ jail after he pleaded guilty to 23 charges against 12 children committed over the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. She added another three years to his non-parole period, meaning the earliest Ridsdale will be eligible for parole is April 2022.

Ridsdale has been in jail since 1994 and is now serving an overall sentence of almost 33 years, with a 28-year nonparole period.