High profile abuse survivor also an abuser, 9 News (May 10, 2016)

A high-profile victim of a notorious pedophile priest who travelled to Rome to see Cardinal George Pell testify before the royal commission has been accused of not being open about his own past as an abuser.

As a child, David Ridsdale was abused by his uncle, Catholic priest Gerard Ridsdale, for four years. Almost 15 years later, in 1995, David pleaded guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting a young victim only years after he suffered abuse himself, the ABC's 7.30 reports.

The magistrate said his behaviour was in part influenced by the abuse he had suffered at the hands of his uncle and placed him on a 12-month good behaviour bond.

After more than 30 years, Ridsdale's victim, Corey Artz, 43, has broken his silence about the abuse he suffered at Ballarat.

"I am just surprised he gets up there and speaks as he does when he knows of his past, he knows he has done wrong," Mr Artz said.

He said he was 12 years old when an 18-year-old Ridsdale befriended his family in his role as a leader at the local YMCA.

Mr Artz said the teen was something of a hero to him until he abused him in his car one night after offering to teach him magic tricks.

"Afterward was the threats of, 'The devil will kill your mum and dad if you ever say anything to anyone'," he said.

He said he was abused three times until his family moved interstate.

Other abuse survivors who travelled to Rome with Ridsdale to witness Cardinal Pell's evidence said they were shocked by the revelation and felt deceived by Ridsdale about his past.

"(He said) there was a small age difference between the two, he told me 17 and 16, he said he had just flashed at the person and that was it," Andrew Collins from the Ballarat Survivors Group said.

He said "the deception" had left some survivors "devastated".

"As survivors you have trust issues, and when you put your trust in somebody and they betray that trust it is akin to being abused all over again," he said.