Catholic Church settlement over rape by priest Gerald Ridsdale could reach millions of dollars

One of the victims of notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale is expected to receive millions of dollars as a result of a landmark legal settlement.

The Catholic Church is expected to pay up to $3 million in compensation to a man who was raped as a young boy by notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale .

The man, known only as JCB, was nine when he was anally raped by Ridsdale in 1982.

The now 85-year-old was then a parish priest at St Colman’s in Mortlake, a town in Victoria’s west, court documents state.

ABC News confirmed with the man’s lawyer, Chris Atmore, that the Catholic Church had reached a settlement this week with JCB in a civil case that was before the Victorian Supreme Court.

The Age reported experts estimate the case was resolved for between $2 million and $3 million, but combined legal costs would be taken out of that figure.

Gerald Ridsdale outside court in Melbourne.

The newspaper said JCB dedicated his landmark payout to victims of clergy abuse who have taken their own lives.

“Nothing will make up for what happened to me and so many others,” he said.

“I feel we have achieved something for myself and the others caught up in this mess. I feel we held the church accountable and I feel vindicated.”

Ridsdale , who has been jailed for decades, is considered Australia’s worst paedophile priest.

He told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2015 that he “got out of control again” and went “haywire” during his stint as a priest in Mortlake.