WARNING: Graphic
After serving less than half of his three-year sentence, notorious paedophile priest Vincent Ryan will walk free from Long Bay Prison tomorrow.
The former Catholic priest, who worked in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese for decades, was granted parole last week for demonstrating “excellent prison performance”, with a sentencing judge saying Ryan has “positive prospects of rehabilitation”.
The 82-year-old, described by one victim as being “like Jekyll and Hyde”, previously spent 14 years in jail for abusing dozens of boys aged between six and 14 during the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, but was released in 2010.
In 2016, he pleaded guilty to several new charges, including gross indecency with a male under 18 and attempted sexual intercourse, after two other victims came forward to police with evidence of the horrific abuse Ryan subjected them to.
Child abuse survivor Gerard McDonald told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in August and September 2016 that Ryan tried to anally rape him in front of a group of boys after telling them to penetrate each other.
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“He became intense, focused and very, very scary. It was like Jekyll and Hyde,” Mr McDonald said.
Ryan told him not to tell anyone about the abuse, warning him “they won’t believe you because I am a priest”.
After Ryan was handcuffed and taken back to jail in May last year to serve another three years and three months, Mr McDonald said the abuse had taken a devastating toll on his life.
“We were left with a life sentence and he got a couple of years,” he said outside the court.
“Even though it’s only a couple of years it’s a win. With a bit of luck he will die in jail.”
Another of Ryan’s victims who gave evidence before Newcastle Court four years ago, Scott Hallett, told the ABC he was “overcome with anger” when he found out about Ryan’s upcoming release.
“He is just an evil man, very calculating – I don’t think the guy even thinks he’s done anything wrong by pure fact that he still able to be called a priest,” Mr Hallett said.
“When you look at all the victims, plenty has changed for us – we don’t get to walk around like a normal person day to day and he’s just going to come out and think he’s done nothing wrong and back to being a priest.”
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A Corrective Services spokesman told news.com.au Ryan will wear an electronic monitoring bracelet 24 hours a day, and must stay away from his victims and not go anywhere near children.
Ryan’s parole supervision will include face-to-face meetings with Community Corrections officers, verification checks, home visits and regular contact with NSW Police.
But former Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who previously investigated Ryan and campaigned for a Royal Commission into clergy abuse, told the ABC he believes the priest should remain locked up.
“I think Vince Ryan will always pose a risk – he is a convicted paedophile, he’s abused dozens of young boys and sadly he will always be a paedophile and a risk to the community,” Mr Fox said.
“He’s very at ease talking about his offences and I suppose that rings alarm bells for me.”
Mr Fox said the Catholic Church is “failing” Ryan’s victims if he is not stripped of his priesthood for the “heinous crimes”.
Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright told news.com.au in a statement he had twice written to the Pope informing him of Ryan’s criminal history.
“As part of these submissions the Bishop has offered his opinion to the Pope, as to what should occur with Ryan’s priesthood,” the statement said.
On both occasions, in 2016 and again in 2019, the “CDF were provided with the presiding justices’ judgements and sentencing remarks and other relevant information”.
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