Predator Priest Gerald Ridsdale Moved on by Catholic Church for a Decade

By Aleks Devic
Herald Sun
November 29, 2013

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/predator-priest-gerald-ridsdale-moved-on-by-catholic-church-for-a-decade/story-fni0fee2-1226771781788

Gerald Ridsdale outside the Melbourne Magistrates Court. Source: News Limited

ONE of Australia's worst paedophiles was sent by the Catholic Church to the US for "counselling", rather than reported to police.

Despite knowing in 1975 that priest Gerald Ridsdale had begun abusing children, the church moved him from parish to parish: at least seven in 11 years.

The Catholic Church paid $70,000 for Ridsdale, now 79, to attend a monastery in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.

Another priest and a brother were sent to the same United States monastery.

Fr Paul David Ryan, who served jail in 2006 for molesting two boys in western Victoria, was also sent to the US for counselling. A 1992 attempt to send him to Jemez Springs was rejected.

According to its website, the Servants of the Paraclete offer help to priests and brothers "facing particular challenges in their vocations and lives".

The Herald Sun can reveal the first alarm bells over Ridsdale rang in 1955 in suburban Melbourne, six years before he was ordained, when he slept with two boys, 10 and 12, in their bunk beds rather than on a mattress their parents set up.

"We could've been his first victims. We are so lucky," 'John' said. "I think now that he was just testing the waters and seeing what he could get away with."

John said his mother caught Ridsdale in his bed.

"She was aghast, and it created terrible friction with my parents," he said.

Ridsdale, now defrocked, has pleaded guilty to 141 child sex abuse charges relating to 47 victims over decades. But police estimate his victims may number in the hundreds.

A recent state parliamentary inquiry said: "He (Ridsdale) is recognised by the bishops in the Ballarat diocese as one the worst offenders in Australia's history."

David Ridsdale, who was also a victim of his uncle, said he was accused of being a "gold digger" and out for revenge when he complained.

"The arguments used by the church are spurious, including they didn't know how bad such abuse was. All of their arguments are designed to protect the institution," he said.

"Never have I been treated with respect or empathy by the church or its members. The church is supposed to be a moral compass for its congregation, but instead was a bullying institution using fear to control people."

The inquiry found: "The Catholic Church made a deliberate choice to pursue a course of concealing the problem … motivated by the church's desire to protect itself. The manner in which the Catholic Church responded (or failed to respond) to complaints gave perpetrators the opportunity to commit further abuse."

Ridsdale will face the County Court in March over 29 charges, to which he has pleaded guilty.

Contact: aleks.devic@news.com.au