89-year-old Gerald Ridsdale has been imprisoned since 1994. He is serving a 39-year prison sentence for child abuse between 1961 and 1988 when he worked as a Catholic priest in churches and schools around the Australian state of Victoria.
Bedridden, he pleaded guilty via video link from a prison hospital to the new charge that he assaulted a 13-year-old boy in 1987. The incident is said to have occurred when the ex-priest was working as an assistant priest at a school.
To court in August
Risdale will return to court in August when his 193rd child sexual abuse conviction is handed down.
The prison sentence has been extended seven times as new victims have come forward. Last October, his release was pushed back until April 2027 after he admitted to abusing two brothers in the 1980s.
During Risdale’s 29 years as a priest, he held 16 different positions. In 2017, a government investigation pointed to the frequent moves as evidence that the church was trying to cover up his crimes.
The cardinal knew
The investigation also showed that the now-deceased Cardinal George Pell, who was convicted but later acquitted of sexual crimes against children in Australia, knew about Risdale’s crimes several years before he was arrested.