AUSTRALIA
SBS
A Ballarat priest says pedophile Gerald Ridsdale took advantage of his naivety when he and George Pell accompanied the priest to court in 1993.
Source: AAP
26 MAY 2015
A fellow priest admired Father Gerald Ridsdale’s work with youth so much he hoped to emulate him, before realising it was all a ruse to trap and molest children.
Father Adrian McInerney maintains he did not know Ridsdale was sexually abusing children when he and now Cardinal George Pell supported the priest at his first court appearance in 1993.
“Up until then I have to confess that in certain areas I had some admiration for him because of his ability,” Fr McInerney told the child abuse royal commission in Ballarat.
“He had abilities in adult education and I even – this does sound preposterous – but I even had admiration for what he did for youth.”
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