Defrocked Catholic sex offender Gerald Ridsdale dies at 90

The defrocked pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale died aged 90, leaving hundreds of victims in his wake, with potentially many more remaining silent.

Gerald Ridsdale outside court in August 1993.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

The death of sex offender Gerald Ridsdale has opened the way for potentially more victims to emerge amid estimates the former Catholic priest assaulted many hundreds of children.

Ridsdale, 90, died on Tuesday, prompting a prominent lawyer to estimate up to 1600 children may have been abused by the priest, whose actions deeply embarrassed the Vatican and the church in Australia.

Police have estimated about 500 people had been abused by Ridsdale in the 1960s, 70s and 80s across western Victoria and in Sydney. But lawyer Judy Courtin, who has acted for many of his victims, said the nature of sex crimes being vastly under-reported meant 1600 people may have been affected, based on the small number of survivors who go to the police.

Ridsdale offended so often that he claimed he couldn’t recall how many victims there were, with the church having moved him across western Victoria for decades with no regard to affected children. He had been jailed for more than 30 years, with scores of cases ratified by the courts.

Ms Courtin said: “The impacts on a child who was raped and/or sexually assaulted by Ridsdale are, tragically, mostly life-long and many. We must also consider the impacts on the family members and loved ones of that child.

“We have estimated that Ridsdale sexually assaulted about 1600 children during his priestly career. Who knows how many family members and loved ones have been impacted – 10,000? 20,000? And then, of course, such harm spills out into whole communities.”

Ridsdale died in a prison hospital after years of ill health.

Diocese of Ballarat vicar-general Marcello Colasante said his thoughts were with the victims.

“They are in our prayers,’’ he said. “And we offer our sympathies to the members of his ­family.’’

When he appeared before the child sex abuse royal commission, Ridsdale distanced himself from late cardinal George Pell, who ­attended court with him in 1993, and the pair lived together for a time in the 1970s.

Ridsdale said the court appearance at the time with Pell was suggested by Ridsdale’s barrister, while Pell supporters said he had been encouraged by late Catholic archbishop of Melbourne Frank Little to attend the hearing.

The royal commission found Pell had an awareness of Ridsdale’s offending or potential offending, as early as 1973 and that he had been told in 1982 as a church consultor why ­Ridsdale was being moved from Mortlake. Pell rejected the findings.

Ridsdale’s offending was covered up by former bishop of Ballarat Ronald Mulkearns, and multiple members of the clergy knew of Ridsdale’s abuse of children across the country.

Global child abuse expert Chris Goddard, a UniSA adjunct professor, said it was a disgrace that no one had ever been charged with concealing abuse in relation to Ridsdale’s offending. Ridsdale was moved by the church nearly 20 times, spreading his offending like a virus through western and southwestern ­Victoria.

Affected towns included Mortlake and Edenhope in the far west.

Ridsdale was notoriously charismatic, wooing children and parents with his outgoing personality, cashing in on the church’s capital in the community.

LOUD fence, a victims’ support group, said it acknowledged all of Ridsdale’s victims.

“The reality remains: Gerald Ridsdale was housed, fed, and relocated under the church’s watch, allowing his crimes to ­continue unchecked for decades,’’ it said.

“When children are young, many have nightmares about monsters. They are comforted by parents who tell them that monsters aren’t real. Sometimes, they are.”

Bishop James O’Collins, who predated Mulkearns, also was told of Ridsdale’s earliest offending, dating back to the 1960s.

However, he also overlooked – or just chose to ignore the criminal activity, exacerbating the priestly abuse carnage.