‘I hope he rots in hell’: Paul’s relief over death of notorious paedophile priest

For years, Paul Levey thought about returning to the presbytery in the Victorian town of Mortlake where he was sexually abused daily as a child by Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale.

He dreamt of setting fire to the old bluestone building and watching it burn to the ground.

On Tuesday morning, 90-year-old Ridsdale, one of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles, died in jail.

Paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale (left) outside court with George Pell (right) in 1993.Credit: Geoff Ampt

The disgraced Catholic priest’s death was met with a sense of overwhelming relief from Levey.

“Good riddance,” the Sunbury man said. “I have been waiting for this day for a long time. He robbed me and so many others of our childhoods. I hope he rots in hell.”

Ridsdale had been in prison since 1994 for the sexual abuse of more than 70 children, including Levey.

The 56-year-old was sent to live with Ridsdale in 1982, aged 13, after struggling to cope with his parents’ separation.

His mother Anne, a devout Catholic, who used to get down on her knees and pray the rosary each day, believed at the time she was doing the best thing for her son.

Anne, who remained close with Levey until her death two years ago, never recovered from the betrayal.

In 2016, she spoke of her devastation, saying: “Every day I blame myself. You go to bed, and you’re thinking about it. You wake up and you’re thinking about it. You live with it every day, the guilt, regret and shame.”

Paul Levey was one of Ridsdale’s victims.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Former Warrnambool detective Colin Ryan was part of the taskforce that received the first complaint against Ridsdale and was instrumental in getting him locked up.

“Myself and detective John Norris spoke to the first victim that came in and put together a brief that included another 20 victims,” Ryan said.

“Ridsdale pleaded guilty back in 1994, and he never saw the light of day after that investigation. The victims just continued to come forward.

“There’s certain things that you get involved in over your career that you don’t forget. And he was one of them.”

Paul Levey as a boy.

Dr Judy Courtin, a lawyer and advocate for child abuse survivors, whose law firm has represented many of Ridsdale’s victims in court, said the pain he inflicted was impossible to quantify.

“The human damage caused by this one paedophile, and the Catholic hierarchy which enabled his sex offending to go unfettered for decades, is so vast it is immeasurable,” Courtin said.

“The impacts on a child who was raped and or sexually assaulted by Ridsdale are, tragically, mostly lifelong and many.”

Many of Ridsdale’s survivors battled ongoing PTSD, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, poverty, and chronic and devastating difficulties with interpersonal relationships. Others had taken their own lives.

In autumn last year, Levey finally rode his Harley-Davidson motorbike to the tiny town of Mortlake, which sits at the base of Mt Shadwell, an extinct volcano, where Ridsdale was once accused of sexually abusing every boy in the local school aged between 10 and 16.

He found the old presbytery completely demolished next to St Colman’s Catholic Church.

“A lot of emotions and memories come flooding back that day,” Levey said.

“I was glad to see it was gone. I heard that the locals had demolished it, that it stirred up too many painful memories.”

Paul Levey at the time he was living with Gerald Ridsdale.

Levey carried with him a rainbow-coloured ribbon, which he tied to the door of the old orange brick church.

The gesture was part of a grassroots movement – started in Ballarat and known as “Loud Fence” – where coloured ribbons are tied outside churches and institutions by survivors and those wanting to show support for victims of child sexual abuse.

“I tied the ribbon for every one of Ridsdale’s victims,” Levey said.

“The ones that are alive and the ones that are dead.

“The abuse affected every part of my life. He broke me at times in my life, but I managed to fight because of the support of my partner Michele, my family and my friends.

The Loud Fence in Ballarat, where abuse survivors tied ribbons to the church fence.Credit: Dylan Burns

“I am glad he was locked up for so long before he died and that he can never hurt another child.”

Ridsdale was one of five paedophiles at St Alipius boys’ school in Ballarat in the early 1970s.

It was only after his convictions in 1993 that the Catholic Church defrocked Ridsdale. He was convicted of almost 200 offences against children, many occurring between the 1950s and late ’80s.

Courtin estimated Ridsdale sexually assaulted many hundreds of children during his time as priest, noting only a small number (about 5 per cent) ever report their abuse to the police.

The late Cardinal George Pell was widely condemned for supporting Ridsdale at his first court appearance for child abuse offences in 1993, which was immortalised in a photo.

Pell also attended a meeting of senior priests that decided that Ridsdale should be moved to another parish, but he maintained he was never aware that children were being abused during his tenure in Ballarat.

It was revealed during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that the Catholic Church knew before 1970 that Ridsdale was a danger to children. Yet the church kept moving him from parish to parish, where he abused many more children, until his first conviction in 1993.

Ridsdale admitted during evidence from prison to the royal commission that he was out of control and “went haywire” in the town of Mortlake. He told the inquiry the first complaint made about his behaviour around children was in 1961.

In 2015, a clerical abuse victim gave evidence to the royal commission that Pell had joked about Ridsdale with another priest in the sacristy at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1983, when he said: “I think Gerry’s been rooting boys again.”

At the time, Pell’s lawyer denied the claim.

During his evidence to the inquiry from Rome, Pell sparked more criticism when he said Ridsdale’s crimes were a “sad story” but were “not of much interest” at the time.

Courtin said the fact no member of the Catholic hierarchy has ever been held criminally accountable for concealing and enabling Ridsdale’s child sex crimes was a “permanent source of anguish and grievance for victims/survivors and their families and loved ones”.

Even today, Courtin said, the Catholic Church continued to retraumatise survivors, mostly recently with a controversial High Court decision that a Catholic diocese was “not vicariously liable” for the actions of a priest who allegedly sexually abused a five-year-old in 1971.

Since 1994, Ridsdale had his jail term repeatedly extended as he pleaded guilty to more crimes.

In 2023, a judge extended his overall time in jail to 40 years, with Ridsdale to become eligible for parole in 2027. That August 2023 ruling was the eighth time he was sentenced for historical child sexual abuse.

Ridsdale had been in poor health for years, with a court hearing in 2020 he had high blood pressure and arthritis, and underwent a heart bypass and bowel surgery.

Ridsdale giving evidence to the royal commission in 2015.Credit:

Following Ridsdale’s death, Loud Fence called on the Catholic Church to reflect on the recent High Court decision and “demonstrate true empathy and genuine regret.”

“Today we acknowledge all of Gerald Ridsdale’s victims, those who have bravely spoken out, and those who have remained silent,” the statement said.

“We extend our deepest compassion to all victim-survivors, knowing that this news will bring pain, distress, and painful memories.

“We especially hold in our hearts the families and loved ones who lost their sons, daughters, siblings and friends too soon as a result of his abuse.”

Alison Geale, chief executive of child protection group Bravehearts, said some may see Ridsdale’s death as the end of a dark chapter, but for survivors and their families, the trauma remains.

With Alexander Darling

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or beyondblue 1300 224 636.

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