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Paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale assaulted girl on altar of Ballarat church, court told

By Melissa Brown And Helen Vines
ABC News
August 15, 2017

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-15/gerald-ridsdale-abused-girl-on-church-altar-court-told/8808606

Gerald Ridsdale has admitted to raping and indecently assaulting 12 more victims.

A father took his daughter to a notorious paedophile priest to be abused, including one time when she was assaulted on the altar of a Ballarat church, a Victorian court has heard.

Gerald Ridsdale is back in court after pleading guilty to more historical sex offences, including rape and indecent assault.

The 83-year-old has been in jail since 1994 for abusing numerous children, but has now admitted to raping and indecently assaulting 12 more victims between 1961 and 1988 in western Victoria.

The County Court heard his youngest victim was six years old, several victims endured excruciating pain during the abuse and many of the offences happened in Ridsdale's car, including when he was driving.

The prosecutor, Jeremy McWilliams, told the court a girl was taken to Ridsdale numerous times by her father to be abused from the age of eight to 10.

Mr McWilliam told the court the victim said "she thought it was never going to stop".

He said she was raped and one of the assaults happened on the altar of a Ballarat church.

"Ridsdale told her she'd be a good girl if she didn't tell anyone," Mr McWilliam said.

He told the court the frequency of the abuse against another victim increased while the boy's father was sick in hospital.

Mr McWilliam said that after raping the boy, Ridsdale told him, "don't tell your mum and dad or your dad could die".

One victim told police he estimated Ridsdale abused him hundreds of times while another victim was paid $1.50 after an indecent assault, with Ridsdale telling him the money was for "being good".

Judge cries after victim's account

Some of the offences happened in the confessional box, with one child told he was being punished for losing his jumper, the court heard.

The court heard Ridsdale told the nine-year-old if he told anyone about what had happened, God would punish his whole family.

That victim read his victim impact statement to the court.

He said he had been warned by older boys not to get caught alone with Ridsdale, and that for a long time he blamed himself for making the mistake of letting that occur.

The man told the court he had recently been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, that he had tried to commit suicide and spent time as an involuntary patient in a mental health facility.

"Being in survival mode all the time is no way to live", he said.

"I desperately want to stop surviving and start living."

He said he embezzled money from his employer — a charity — to fuel a gambling habit to numb the pain.

He estimated he had suffered 4,500 nightmares since being abused by Ridsdale, averaging three or four a week since the age of nine.

Judge Irene Lawson cried as she acknowledged the victim's strength and told him he was not responsible for any of Ridsdale's offending.

All but two of Ridsdale's victims were in court today.

Many cried as the charges were read out, while one man put his head in his hands and covered his face.

One victim, whose impact statement was read to the court by a lawyer, said she was physically alive but not living.

She said she felt hurt and rage and was crippled by flashbacks about Ridsdale and sometimes she needed to be admitted to hospital as a result.

She said seeing justice done did not give her closure because the past could never be undone.




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