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Paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale's name scratched from St Patrick's College honour board
ABC News
A black line has been put through the name of paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale on the board of ordained collegians at St Patrick's College in Ballarat to acknowledge the victims of abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy. It has also placed a plaque beneath it, which says: "The black line above stands both as a symbol of respect to the bravery of victims and survivors, and for the college's deep remorse." Ridsdale's abuse spanned decades from the 1960s to the 1980s, as he was moved from parish to parish in western Victoria by the Catholic Church despite many in authority being aware of his actions. He was first convicted and jailed in 1994 and again in 2006, and gave evidence at last year's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The headmaster of the Catholic boys' secondary school, John Crowley, told 774 ABC Melbourne he made the decision after sitting through part of the hearings. "I made the decision at the end of that first sitting in May, having sat through two weeks of excruciating evidence documenting the most appalling abuse … particularly around this particular individual," he said. "It just felt right to cover his name out of respect for the victims and survivors." Mr Crowley said the words on the plaque were considered for a long time before they were decided on. "Over the last 16 months, I've been part of a journey of working with these men to establish trusting relationships, around conversations, around curriculum, and education around protecting young people, and also reconnecting them with the school," he said. "It made sense that we made a statement that this individual, who is an old boy of the college, that we recognise the incredible pain inflicted on families, victims and survivors. "It just felt as though it was the right thing to do."
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