A notorious pedophile priest has been charged with the historical sexual abuse of two more boys.
Gerald Ridsdale appeared in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court via video link from Hopkins Correctional Facility on Monday charged with 24 offences dating back to the 1980s.
These include sexual penetration of a person between 10 to 16 and indecent assault.
The 87-year-old appeared for the virtual administrative hearing and told the court he could hear what was being said.
“I can hear you, yes,” Ridsdale told magistrate Peter Mellas.
There was also a momentary delay as the former Catholic priest waited for his lawyer to join the virtual hearing.
The latest charges relate to two victims from his time as a priest at Mortlake, in Victoria’s west, in the 1980s.
Ridsdale is serving a decades-long sentence for abusing up to 70 victims. He is eligible for parole in 2025.
He was ordained as a priest at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Ballarat in 1961 and worked at multiple parishes across Victoria, including Edenhope, Mortlake, Inglewood and Warrnambool.
In 1993 he was defrocked as a priest.
Ridsdale will return to court in June.
