Gerald Ridsdale, convicted of abusing at least 72 children over three decades, died aged 90 on Tuesday morning in Port Phillip Prison's medical unit.
He was one of multiple convicted pedophile priests and Christian Bothers who operated in the Diocese of Ballarat in western Victoria, along with Robert Best, Edward Dowlan, Gerald Leo Fitzgerald and Bryan Desmond Coffey.
Judy Courtin, a lawyer whose firm represented many of Ridsdale's victims in court, said a landmark 2024 High Court judgement not to recognise the vicarious liability of the Diocese "twisted a knife" into abuse victims and survivors.
"These people can no longer sue the Diocese of Ballarat for any of Ridsdale's horrific sex crimes if the Diocese establishes it had no prior knowledge of his heinous offending," Dr Courtin said.
"Justice is, yet again, cold-bloodedly denied by the Catholic Church."
The impacts of abuse were often lifelong and included chronic PTSD, depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and estrangement from family and friends.
"The human damage caused by this one pedophile, and the Catholic hierarchy which enabled his sex offending to go unfettered for decades, is so vast it is immeasurable," Dr Courtin said.
Ridsdale's appalling history of child abuse began at least in 1961, the year he was ordained.
He spent the next three decades abusing dozens of children across regional Victoria, often using his status as a priest to earn the trust of his victims and their families.
Ridsdale was in prison since 1994 for his crimes.
National sexual abuse prevention charity, In Good Faith Foundation, said Ridsdale's death would bring back painful memories and cause immense distress to many people.
"He preyed on children; he preyed on families and was often enabled to do so with impunity," the charity said in a statement.
"We remember those whose lives have been cut tragically short and whose families still grieve."
His victims were among survivors who travelled to Rome in 2016 for the late Cardinal George Pell's testimony to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Pell, who was found guilty in 2018 but later acquitted of raping one choirboy and molesting another at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in 1996, was a former housemate of Ridsdale's.
The commission found Cardinal Pell was among a large number of senior church officials who knew about complaints of abuse by clergy in the 1970s and '80s.
It found church officials shifted Ridsdale to other parishes after abuse allegations were made to avoid scandal, with the Diocese of Ballarat knowing of Ridsdale's proclivities since the 1960s.
Ridsdale was also accused of abusing children in NSW and the United States, where he underwent church-connected sex offender treatment.
He was later charged by Victoria' Police's Sano Taskforce, set up to investigate allegations of child sexual abuse involving religious and non-government organisations.
The mounting charges and court appearances garnered him the moniker of Australia's worst pedophile priest.
He admitted to another eight sexual assault charges against children as recently as August 2024.
During the last hearing he attended, the court heard Ridsdale was in chronic pain and likely to go into palliative care.
He only spoke to his plea, to which he replied, "I'm guilty".
He had a fall in November 2022 and was bedridden, suffering chronic pain, muscle wasting and weak limbs.
Sexual Assault Services Australia chief executive Kathleen Maltzahn said Ridsdale's death was a timely reminder that more funding was needed to support victims of sexual assault.
"Across Victoria, we still get calls from schools every day of the week," she said.
"Sometimes it's other children, but it includes against teachers too."
She said it was important for state and federal governments to use Ridsdale's death as a reminder to take action to better support victims.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Lifeline 13 11 14
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