Evil paedophile Ridsdale cops more jail time

The former Catholic priest has been sentenced to 11 years' jail for abusing another dozen children, including a 10-year-old girl sexually assaulted on a church altar.

That adds another five years to his overall sentence, taking it to 33 years.

Victorian County Court Judge Irene Lawson said Ridsdale's appalling pattern of offending was quickly established following his ordination in 1961.

"Each of the complainants were young, vulnerable and were exploited by you for your own sexual gratifications," Judge Lawson said on Thursday.

"Your actions were violent and abusive."

Judge Lawson said Ridsdale abused his position of trust over the victims and the trust of their families.

"You were a revered priest and trusted by devout Catholic families who respected you as God's representative on earth."

Ridsdale has now pleaded guilty in five court cases to abusing 65 children during his three decades as a parish priest in western Victoria, although his true number of victims is believed to be in the hundreds.

Judge Lawson sentenced Ridsdale to 11 years' jail after he pleaded guilty to 23 charges against 12 children committed over the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

She added another three years to his non-parole period, meaning the earliest Ridsdale will be eligible for parole in April 2022.

Ridsdale has been in jail since 1994 and is now serving an overall sentence of almost 33 years, with a 28-year non-parole period.

Judge Lawson said Ridsdale's was a truly exceptional case and involved unprecedented offending.

EARLIER: Australia's worst pedophile priest, Gerald Francis Ridsdale, faces an unprecedented sentence for his unprecedented sexual abuse of children over three decades.

The former Ballarat diocese Catholic priest is due to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to abusing another dozen children during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl on a church altar.

Ridsdale is already serving a 28-year sentence with a 25-year non-parole period.

A judge who agrees Ridsdale's case is the worst example of such offending ever dealt with in Victoria must now decide whether the 83-year-old spends even longer in jail for the historical crimes.

Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams has rejected a defence call for Ridsdale's jail terms for the latest 23 historical charges to be subsumed into his current sentence, saying that would deliver no justice.

"It is unprecedented offending and it demands an unprecedented sentence," Mr McWilliams told the Victorian County Court earlier this month.

Ridsdale has now pleaded guilty in five court cases to abusing 65 children during his three decades as a parish priest in western Victoria.

He has been in jail since 1994.

His current sentence ends in 2022, with April 2019 the earliest he could apply for parole.

Victoria Legal Aid chief counsel Tim Marsh has urged Judge Irene Lawson not to add to Ridsdale's current sentence and non-parole period.

"At some point the court will need to say this man has served enough time in prison," Mr Marsh told Ridsdale's plea hearing.

"In my submission, that time is now."

Judge Lawson will sentence Ridsdale for sex crimes committed against 11 boys and one girl between 1962 and 1988.

1934 - Born May 20, St Arnaud, Victoria

Primary school St Aloysius, Redan

Secondary school St Patrick's College, Ballarat

1954-1958 - Studied for priesthood Corpus Christi College, Werribee. Began offending.

1958-1960 - Seminary, Collegio Brignole Sale, Genoa

1960-1961 - Seminary, All Hallows College, Dublin

1961 - July 25, ordained at St Patrick's Cathedral, Ballarat

- Fills in at five parishes including Horsham, Inglewood, Camperdown and Ballarat North

1962-1964 - Assistant priest at Ballarat North. First complaint from a boy at Villa Maria boarding school in Ballarat East

1964-1974 - Assistant priest Mildura, Swan Hill, Warrnambool and Ballarat East

1974-1975 - Parish priest Apollo Bay. Puts in for transfer after a man tells him in a pub there's talk about him and kids

1975 - Parish priest Inglewood. Panics and leaves overnight after a woman says there is talk he has been interfering with boys and police are making inquiries. Sent for counselling

Early 1976 - Temporarily appointed to Bungaree

1976-1979 - Administrator then parish priest Edenhope

1980 - Study leave, National Pastoral Institute. Offended there

1981-1982 - Parish priest Mortlake. Prolific offender

1982 - Starts on-and-off counselling

1982-1985 - Catholic Enquiry Centre, Sydney. Offends against boy from parish prayer group who became his altar boy. Centre director says "I want him out of here"

Early 1986 - Short periods as Woy Woy assistant priest and Forestville administrator, both in then Sydney archdiocese

July 1986-May 1988 - Assistant priest Horsham. Written complaint about offending while in Horsham

April 1988 - Steps down from parish work

June 1988 - Suspended for 12 months

1989-1990 - Residential program in New Mexico. Admitted to police he offended in US

- Ridsdale says didn't offend from time he returned to Australia and his 1993 arrest

March/April 1991 - Assistant priest St John of God Hospital, Richmond, NSW

May 1993 - Admits indecently assaulting eight children. Sentenced to two years and three months.

November 1993 - Defrocked

August 1994 - Admits abusing 20 boys and one girl from 1961-1982

October 1994 - Jailed for 18 years

August 2006 - Sentenced to 13 years; admits abusing 10 boys from 1970-1987

April 2014 - Sentenced to eight years; admits abusing 11 boys, three girls from 1961-1980

December 2016 - Charged with fresh historical sex abuse charges

April 2017 - Ridsdale pleads guilty to latest charges

August 2017 - Faces pre-sentencing hearing in Victorian County Court after pleading guilty to 23 charges involving 11 boys and one girl over offences from 1962 to 1988.

* Australia's most prolific pedophile priest has been in jail since August, 1994

* Convicted of 138 offences against 53 victims

* Total effective sentence of 28 years' jail, before 2017 charges

* Has pleaded guilty to further offences against 12 victims

* Believed to have abused up to 1000 children, victims' group Broken Rites says

* First offence for which he was later convicted -1961, the year he was ordained, but began offending while in the seminary in the 1950s

* Defrocked in 1993 after first convictions

1993 COURT CASE

* Convicted of sexually assaulting eight children

* Pleaded guilty to 27 offences

* Sentenced to two years and three months, suspended after three months

1994 COURT CASE

* Convicted of sexually assaulting 20 boys and one girl

* Pleaded guilty to 46 offences between 1961 and 1982

* Included abusing a boy and girl after presiding over their father's funeral and indecently assaulting an altar boy during confession

* Jailed for 18 years, with 15-year minimum

2006 COURT CASE

* Convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys from 1970-1987

* Pleaded guilty to 35 offences

* Sentenced to 13 years' jail, with seven-year minimum

* Included sexual abuse in the confessional, in the sacristy, in the presbytery, in his car - following Mass, first holy communion, confirmation, weddings and funerals

2014 COURT CASE

* Convicted of sexually abusing 11 boys and three girls

* Pleads guilty to 30 offences between 1961 and 1980

* Victims included a girl aged four when offending began, three children in one family

* Sentenced to eight years' jail, with five-year minimum

2017 COURT CASE

* Has pleaded guilty to 23 offences against 11 boys and one girl

* Majority indecent assault charges

ABUSE CLAIMS TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

* 78 people made claims about Ridsdale to church

* Cover abuse from 1961 to 1988

* Compensation totalling $2.42m (including treatment, legal and other costs) paid to 32 victims who pursued civil claims; average almost $76,000

* Total of $1.2m paid to 28 victims through redress process; average $43,000

* Based on claims received by Ballarat diocese from January 1980-February 2015.

AAP pmu/nb/MN/KM?15-08-17 1611?