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	Church Criticised over Paedophile Priest Sydney Morning Herald [Australia] August 11, 2006 http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Church-criticised-over-paedophile-priest/ 2006/08/11/1154803083128.html The Catholic Church has come under attack by a judge and the victims of a Victorian paedophile priest who indecently assaulted young boys at a wedding, a funeral and even during confessions. Gerald Francis Ridsdale, already in Ararat Prison for similar offences, stood silent with head bowed and eyes closed as he was sentenced by the County Court, in Ballarat, over the sexual abuse of boys aged as young as six between 1970 and 1987 in Victoria's western district. The court heard the 72-year-old had committed the offences following a wedding, a funeral mass, during confessions, holidays, on a fishing trip and at his victims' homes. His victims included altar boys and students in Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh, Horsham, Edenhope, Mortlake and Warrnambool. Some victims and their families attended court and one yelled out to Ridsdale at the end of the hearing: "Don't worry about this judge .... worry about the next one ... you will burn in hell." Ridsdale told one 11-year-old victim that if he told his parents he would not become an altar boy and God would not like him, the court heard. Judge Bill White sentenced Ridsdale, who is serving an 18-year jail term for other indecent assaults on young boys, to 13 years jail, with a minimum term of seven years. He has already served 12 years of his previous jail term and the new sentence adds four years to his minimum jail term. He will be eligible for parole in 2013, when he is 79. Judge White also criticised the Catholic Church for its lack of action on complaints against Ridsdale, for constantly moving him from parish to parish, and for its failure to show adequate compassion to his victims. He said Ridsdale abused his privileged position as a priest and the "blind trust of Catholic families" who placed priests on a pedestal to have private time with his victims to engage in his "degrading conduct". "There is no doubt your conduct plummets to the depths of evil hypocrisy," Judge White said. "Your conduct has given rise to disastrous, catastrophic and, at times, tragic results." He listed the effects on some of his victims including alcoholism, mental breakdowns, loss of trust in the church, possible suicides, marriage break-ups and sexual difficulties. Outside the court, some of Ridsdale's victims said the judge's sentence was lenient and did not send a strong enough message to the Catholic Church. "The judge failed today to sent a message to them (the church) that they harbour these people, ... they have not been told what you did is wrong," one victim said outside court. Another victim criticised the church for failing to address the priest's offending earlier and for its lack of support to victims. "For every victim that's walked out of this court today there's not one member of the Catholic Church here to support them, to stand by them and to say that they care," he said. He called on the Catholic Church to apologise to victims of paedophile priests, provide counselling and compensation. Ridsdale's lawyer Trevor Wraight previously told the court his client was diagnosed with significant psycho-sexual dysfunction, he was contrite and remorseful - as displayed by his plea of guilty to 24 counts of indecent assault, seven of gross indecency and four of buggery.
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