AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia
Priest admits giving character reference for paedophile Gerald Ridsdale was ‘preposterous’
By Peta Carlyon
Giving prolific paedophile Gerald Ridsdale a character reference in court without asking what the nature of the charges were was “preposterous”, the parish priest of St Alipius in Ballarat tells a royal commission hearing.
Giving prolific paedophile Gerald Ridsdale a character reference in court without asking what the nature of the charges were was “preposterous”, the parish priest of St Alipius in Ballarat has agreed at a royal commission hearing.
Ridsdale is in prison for extensive sex crimes against young boys.
Father Adrian McInerney is giving evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Ballarat.
He told the commission he agreed to accompany Ridsdale to court after charges were laid, because Ridsdale told him it was in relation to “a minor matter”.
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