Child sex abuse survivor Paul Levey reacts to death of pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale

I was 13 when I was abused by Gerald Ridsdale. It was the power he held over the parents and families. He groomed everybody. READ THE FIRST PERSON PIECE

Survivor Paul Levey with his abuser, pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale. Picture: supplied

• Australia’s worst pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale dies

I knew on Monday that it was imminent, maybe 24 or 48 hours tops. So the waiting game kicked into gear.

I took the dogs for a walk on Tuesday morning and I got into the backyard and my phone just started blowing up.

That’s when I heard. It was 10.32am.

We’ve got a survivors group chat going, and as soon as I put the news in there, we all sort of found out at the same time.

We’ve heard he’d been in palliative care for a while. We’ve been waiting for him to die.

It was a big relief.

Gerald Ridsdale, who was jailed in 1994, abused more than 70 children over three decades. Picture: AAP Image

I messaged my partner, Michelle, and she said that somebody had come into the supermarket and asked how I was because they’d heard the news on the radio.

I went around to the shop and another bloke came over and said “Paul, I just heard on the radio that the c--- is dead”.

I was 13 when I was abused. It was the power he held over the parents and families. He groomed everybody.

Your parents believed in him. They trusted in the Church and trusted him.

If there was something wrong, Ridsdale would manipulate it.

Pedophile priest Gerald Risdale died on Tuesday morning. Picture: Supplied.

Living at the presbytery, a lot of kids would come to that presbytery just to play after school or stay the night, whatever.

To find out later, that he’d abused all those kids but none of us ever knew he was abusing us. He kept it so cloak and dagger. I don’t know how he got other kids to not notice it.

The Catholic Church had the power back then. The faithful, they believed in him.

I know of people who are still in denial of what he did, or what the Church has done.

Good riddance he’s dead. Go straight to hell. Rot in hell you piece of shit.

I hope you enjoyed your prison life getting raped and bashed.

You took away my childhood.

I’ll be having a couple of drinks. A couple of Canadian Clubs. The black cans. They’re a bit stronger.

Paul Levey – Victim of pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale