AUSTRALIA
The Age
[with video]
May 20, 2015
Jane Lee
Legal Affairs Reporter for The Age
Cardinal George Pell will be asked to make a statement to the royal commission into child sexual abuse over claims he tried to bribe a victim to stay silent about his abuse and ignored claims by another that a now-convicted sex offender was abusing children at a Ballarat school.
David Ridsdale was abused by his uncle, convicted sex offender and former priest Gerald Ridsdale, from when he was 11 years old.
Mr Ridsdale told the commission on Wednesday that he called then Father Pell to tell him about the abuse in February 1993. He chose to phone Father Pell because he had known him since birth and: “He was the only human being in the church whom I believed was still a friend and who I could trust.”
He said Father Pell’s tone became angry, and he started talking about the things he would need to buy for his growing family, such as a car.
He said Father Pell asked him: “I want to know what it will take to keep you quiet.”
Mr Ridsdale said his response was: “F— you George and everything you stand for.”
After he hung up, Mr Ridsdale said he told his sisters about the phone conversation.
“I remember saying to both my sisters: ‘the bastard just tried to bribe me’,” Mr Ridsdale told the hearing.
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