Australian ex-priest convicted of child sex abuse pleads guilty to 72nd victim

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian ex-priest convicted of child sex abuse has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 72nd victim. Gerald Ridsdale has been in prison since 1994. The 89-year-old is bedridden and serving a 39-year sentence for a series of convictions for abusing children between 1961 and 1988 while he worked as a Roman Catholic priest in churches and schools across his home state of Victoria. Bedridden, he pleaded guilty Thursday by video link from a prison hospital to a new charge of indecently assaulting a 13-year-old boy in 1987. During his 29 years as a priest, Ridsdale was shuffled between 16 church posts. In 2017, a government inquiry found his frequent relocations were evidence of the church covering up his crimes.