Notorious paedophile priest Vince Ryan will walk free from jail tomorrow after serving less than half of a three-year sentence for the historic sexual abuse of two altar boys.
Key points:
- Victims have been left angry at Ryan’s release from prison
- A former detective says Ryan will “always pose a risk”
- Ryan previously spent 14 years in prison for abusing more than 30 boys
The 82-year-old was granted parole last week after a judge found “the offender has demonstrated excellent prison performance” and “positive prospects of rehabilitation” upon his release from Sydney’s Long Bay Prison.
Scott Hallett and Gerard McDonald gave evidence before Newcastle Court in 2016, in which they described how Ryan gave them wine as nine-year-old altar boys before subjecting them to horrific sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s in the NSW Hunter region.
Mr Hallett, 55, described being “overcome with anger” when he found out about Ryan’s upcoming release while holidaying with his wife and three children at Surfers Paradise.
“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 is still able to be called a priest,” he said.
“I mean he has been convicted of that many crimes.”