The family of one of Australia’s worst paedophiles have spared him the shame of a pauper’s funeral and told officials they will make arrangements for his final farewell.
Former Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale, convicted of abusing more than 70 children over three decades, died on Tuesday morning while in prison aged 90.
He had been housed within a medical unit within the privately operated Port Phillip Prison – one of Australia’s toughest jails.
The despised former priest had been in palliative care for some time and died from ‘natural causes’.
Prison sources have told Daily Mail Australia Ridsdale still had next of kin to notify about his death.
It is understood while Ridsdale’s brother had disowned the child molester, he still maintained some contact over the years with other family members while behind bars.
Many of Ridsdale’s extended family still live in the Ballarat region, west of Melbourne, where the predator lurked for years – but few are likely to pay their respects.
‘My grandmother put him on a pedestal, never knowing how far he had to fall; what a horrible ripple effect he has caused so many people, those that are here today and those that aren’t,’ his niece Lou Ridsdale told The Senior in 2017.
One of Australia’s worst paedophiles, Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale, has died in jail age 90
Ridsdale’s body remains with the Victorian Coroner, which is standard practice for anyone who dies behind bars.
The Coroner’s Court of Victoria did not respond to Daily Mail Australia’s requests for information on Ridsdale.
If unclaimed by his next of kin, Ridsdale’s body was likely to be cremated and disposed of in a pauper’s grave within an undisclosed Catholic section of a Victorian cemetery.
But on Tuesday, Ballarat Vicar-General, Father Marcello Colasante, assured Daily Mail Australia Ridsdale’s family were taking care of his remains after his death.
‘We recognise that the news of of the death of Gerald Ridsdale is likely to renew the distress of those who have suffered from his crimes,’ he said on Tuesday.
‘We offer our sympathies to the members of his family. The family are taking care of any funeral arrangements.’
A spokesman for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference refused to comment on what would become of Ridsdale’s remains.
‘The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference does not make comment on the funeral arrangements of individuals,’ the spokesman said.
Ridsdale (pictured) was serving a maximum of 40 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to sexually abusing at least 72 children during the 1970s and 1980s while working as a Catholic priest at multiple schools and churches across Victoria
Ridsdale’s appalling history of child abuse began in 1961, the same year he was ordained as a priest.
He spent the next three decades abusing dozens of children across regional Victoria, often using his privileged status to earn the trust of his victims and their families.
Ridsdale had been in prison since 1994 for the abuse of more than 70 children in Victoria.
He was also accused of abusing children in NSW and the US, 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 paedophile 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 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found those claims were true and confirmed that those high up in the church had made decisions to shift Ridsdale to other parishes following allegations of child abuse to avoid scandal.
Ridsdale (pictured) admitted to another eight sexual assault charges against children as recently as August last year
Gerard Risdale’s family have spared him the shame of a pauper’s funeral and told officials they will make arrangements for his final farewell (stock image)
It found that the Diocese of Ballarat had known of Ridsdale’s abuse 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 last year.
Ridsdale, who was born in Ballarat, appeared frail during his last court appearance and had been excused from attending his most recent mentions.
During the last 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.’
He had been too unwell to attend previous hearings for offences in the regional Victorian towns of Inglewood, Ballarat, Apollo Bay, Horsham and Mortlake between 1973 and 1981.
Ridsdale was serving a maximum of 40 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to sexually abusing at least 72 children during the 1970s and 1980s 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.
