AUSTRALIA
The Age
By Ian Munro
Law and Justice Editor
December 14, 2004
A decision is expected this week on whether pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale will face more sex abuse charges relating to a further nine people.
This follows a meeting at Ballarat police station yesterday between the Director of Public Prosec- utions, Paul Coghlan, QC, the alleged victims and Detective Sergeant Kevin Carson who investigated their complaints.
In August, The Age revealed that Mr Coghlan was refusing to press further charges against Ridsdale, who was jailed in 1994 and will be 75 before he is eligible for parole.
A further prosecution was deemed "not in the public interest", as the allegations could have been heard at Ridsdale's original trial.
Responding to what he called "disquiet in the community", Mr Coghlan later offered to meet the complainants and reconsider his decision. The mother of an alleged victim, who represented her son at yesterday's meeting, urged victims to come forward.
Posted by kshaw at December 13, 2004 09:34 AM