AUSTRALIA
The Age
May 28, 2015
Jane Lee
Legal Affairs Reporter for The Age
COMMENT
In his blind loyalty to those who have washed their hands of him, Gerald Ridsdale has betrayed those he has already failed.
Who was the priest in the room when he raped a child in his office?
He would not, or could not, say. For almost two days, he said he could not remember George Pell living with him. Now he said he could only remember McMahon.
Expectations were probably too high. He is an elderly man in jail. He has admitted to more than 100 crimes against children, which have been aired at three court cases, one state inquiry and half a royal commission. What more, one might think, does he have to lose?
Two things: a few years of freedom if he is released on parole in 2019, and any remaining ties he has left with senior church authorities.
The commission already knows that the church authorities decided Ridsdale should move on to other parishes, where he then abused others. All that was left was to find out who he told, what he said, and how they reached these decisions.
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