AUSTRALIA
The Standard
By JARROD WOOLLEY May 29, 2015
WITH his wispy white hair, large glasses, and liver spots on his balding head, he could be any ordinary man on the street.
But there is nothing ordinary about Gerald Ridsdale.
It is hard to reconcile the image on the screen — that of a feeble old man who needed the assistance of a walking frame — with the one that has been painted in the media of an evil, perverted sex fiend who preyed on young children with zero thought for the hurt and harm he was causing.
But make no mistake — the man who appeared at the royal commission into child sex abuse via video link from his Ararat prison is a monster.
He’s serving time for abusing 54 individual victims. It’s thought there are countless others who fell victim to Ridsdale, including many who have taken their own lives, unable to live with the irreversible psychological damage done to them by the defrocked priest they initially trusted.
The commission, in part, is trying to find out how Ridsdale and other priests and Christian Brothers could continue interfering with children for so long and what the church did to stop it.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.