AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
Predator priest Gerald Ridsdale found victims wherever the Catholic Church moved him across Australia
UNDER the cover of clergy, Gerald Ridsdale was given the power to be a predator.
No occasion was too sacred. No location was out of bounds. No victim was out of reach. The more vulnerable the young children were, the more it pleased his depraved lust.
Parents were befriended and in a fooled sense of trust and put their children in the hands of Ridsdale.
There were fishing trips to Anglesea, lifts home after mass, beach excursions to Geelong and camping trips to the country.
Then there were the trappings at his presbytery. Video games, colour televisions, a video player and a pool table all luring his prey into his evil world.
As a priest, parents entrusted him to look after their children. He made the children initially feel special but all that was a saintly illusion.
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