A father undressed his daughter and laid her on a church altar where pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale indecently assaulted her, a court has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Ridsdale, 83, has pleaded guilty to 23 charges, mainly indecent assaults but including rape, involving offences committed against 11 boys and one girl between 1962 and 1988.
Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said on one occasion in 1974 the 10-year-old girl was woken up by her father, while Ridsdale waited in the hallway, and driven with the priest to the church.
"(The girl's) father carried her to the confessional booth and took her clothes off her then carried her to the altar and lay her down," Mr McWilliams told the Victorian County Court.
He then indecently assaulted her.
"Ridsdale told her: 'Jesus died for our sins so we could be forgiven and if I confess to this sin I might be forgiven.'
"Then he kissed her on the cheek."
Ridsdale told another of his victims that "it's our little secret", Mr McWilliams said.
"Ridsdale told him: 'Don't tell your mum and dad or your dad could die'."
Defence counsel Tim Marsh earlier said Ridsdale had a small fall and then fainted but said he is OK and insisted on going to court for his plea hearing on Tuesday.
The former Catholic priest has previously been convicted for sexually abusing 53 children between 1961, the year he was ordained, and the late 1980s.
Ridsdale’s crimes against children
* 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 another 20 offences against 11 victims
* Believed to have abused up to 1000 children, victims' group Broken Rites says
* First conviction in 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.
• To contact CASA, free call 24 hours 1800 806 292. Lifeline can be accessed on 13 11 14.
