Notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale admits to abusing more children

Gerald Ridsdale has pleaded guilty to 13 charges including indecent assault and penetration of a person between the ages of 10 and 16.

Notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale has admitted abusing more children who were in his care in western Victoria in the early 1980s.

On Friday, the 88-year-old appeared at Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to 13 charges including indecent assault and penetration of a person between the ages of 10 and 16.

The charges relate to the abuse of two boys in Mortlake, near Warrnambool, between May 1981 and November 1982.

“I plead guilty your honour,” Ridsdale said when asked for his plea.

George Pell with Gerald Ridsdale outside court, on 15 August 1993.

He appeared via video link from Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat, where he is serving a 36 year sentence for abusing at least 69 victims while he was a parish priest.

Police initially charged him with 24 fresh offences but on Friday, prosecutor Marcel White, withdrew 11 charges.

No details of the offending was heard in court and Mr White argued against the release of a case summary to the media due to the level of redaction needed to protect the identities of victims.

“There’s so much in there, it’s replete that it can’t be reported,” he said.

Ridsdale has been in prison since 1994 with his sentence extended multiple times after further prosecution.

He will appear at the County Court sitting at Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court for a pre-sentencing hearing on September 26.