Notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for abusing four children during his time as a priest in western Victoria during the 1970s.
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The 85-year-old will now spend 36 years in prison for sexual assaulting children, which started in Ballarat in 1961 before he was moved to 10 different parishes in county Victoria, including Inglewood.
Ridsdale will be eligible for parole on April 8, 2025, which adds three more years to his current non-parole period.
You can read the sentencing remarks in full here.
Judge Gerard Mullaly told Ridsdale on Thursday he must be further punished for his crimes against the children.
"In my view those extensions are just and appropriate and are moderate given the gravity of what you did and the harm you caused, but moderate because they must be given your age, health and the sentences you are undergoing," Judge Mullaly said.
Ridsdale, who was raised in Ballarat, pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including 10 charges of indecent assault and four charges of buggery.
The charges relate to the abuse of four child victims during Ridsdale's time as a priest during the 1970s at Warrnambool, Apollo Bay, Inglewood, Goroke and Edenhope.
The offences bring Ridsdale's number of victims across western Victoria to almost 70 with fears he may have abused even more children in the years between 1961 and 1989.
In his sentencing remarks, the judge said Ridsdale's moral culpability for these offences was very high.
"You knew what you were doing was profoundly wrong and harmful, but you kept doing these things to these children over and over. It seems you knew no boundaries or had any sense of restraint," Judge Mullaly said.
He said Ridsdale's offending was serious because the victims were very young, Ridsdale breached his position of great trust and he caused physical pain to his victims.
"They were vulnerable children and you simply used them and violated them for your perverse sexual gratification," Judge Mullaly said.
Ridsdale joined the sentencing hearing at the County Court of Victoria via a video link. He sat at a table in his prison clothing and wrote down his sentence as the judge read it out.
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