The death of one of Australia’s worst pedophiles, defrocked Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale, is not the end of victim-survivor trauma, advocates say.
Ridsdale, convicted of abusing more than 70 children over three decades, died aged 90 on Tuesday morning in Port Phillip Prison’s medical unit in Melbourne’s west.
His appalling history of child abuse began in 1961, the year he was ordained.
He spent the next three decades abusing dozens of children across regional Victoria, often using his status as a priest to earn the trust of his victims and their families.
The impacts of Ridsdale’s crimes would echo long after his death, chief executive at child protection organisation Bravehearts Alison Geale said.
“While some may see his passing as the end of a dark chapter, for survivors, the trauma and its impacts remain,” she said.
“Bravehearts stands with all those affected, reminding the world that justice is not just about the fall of an offender, but about ongoing support, recognition, and healing for survivors.”
Ridsdale had been in prison since 1994 for the abuse of more than 70 children in Victoria, and was to become eligible for parole in 2028.
His victims were among survivors who travelled to Rome in 2016 for the late Cardinal George Pell’s testimony to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Pell, who was found guilty in 2018 but later acquitted of raping one 13-year-old choirboy and molesting another at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996, was a former housemate of Ridsdale’s.
The commission found Cardinal Pell was among a large number of senior church officials who knew about complaints of abuse by numerous priests and Christian Brothers in the 1970s and 80s.
Ridsdale was also accused of abusing children in NSW and the United States, where he underwent church-connected sex offender treatment.
He was later charged with multiple other offences stemming from Sano Taskforce investigations, set up by Victoria Police to investigate historical and new allegations of child sexual abuse involving religious and non-government organisations.
Those numerous charges and court appearances garnered him the moniker of Australia’s worst pedophile priest.
At Ridsdale’s 1994 plea hearing, witnesses told how he was moved from one parish to another when claims of abuse were raised.
The royal commission found those claims were true and confirmed church officials shifted Ridsdale to other parishes after abuse allegations were made to avoid scandal.
It found that the Diocese of Ballarat had known of Ridsdale’s proclivities since the 1960s and there was no question that by 1982 then-bishop of Ballarat Ronald Mulkearns knew of Ridsdale’s offending.
He admitted to another eight sexual assault charges against children as recently as August 2024.
During the last court hearing he attended, the court was told Ridsdale was in chronic pain and was likely to go into palliative care.
He was not asked to speak during the hearing except for his plea, to which he replied, “I’m guilty”.
Ridsdale was serving a maximum of 40 years after previously pleading guilty to sexually abusing at least 72 children during the 1970s and 80s while working as a Catholic priest at multiple schools and churches across Victoria.
He had a fall in November 2022 and was bedridden, suffering chronic pain, muscle wasting and weak limbs.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Lifeline 13 11 14
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