5 days ago
Child abuse survivors pay tribute to Victorian detective Denis Ryan
Former Victorian police officer Denis Ryan has been remembered for his courage in attempting to prosecute paedophile Catholic priest Monsignor John Day in the 1970s.
Mr Ryan died on Tuesday at the age of 93.
He was a detective based in Mildura in north-west Victoria when he was forced out of Victoria Police in 1972 for attempting to prosecute Monsignor Day.
A year earlier, he had learned of multiple allegations against the priest for child sexual abuse and began his investigation, but was told to stop by his superiors.
A contemporary of convicted paedophile priest Gerald Risdale, Monsignor Day has since been shown to be one of Australia's most prolific child sex abusers.
Monsignor Day remained a priest until he died in 1978, aged 74.
On Wednesday, Peter Hoysted — Mr Ryan's friend and co-author of the memoir Unholy Trinity: The Hunt for Paedophile Priest Monsignor John Day — led the tributes to Mr Ryan.
"No sanctimony, a wicked sense of humour and courage to burn."
It took more than 40 years for Victoria Police to apologise to Mr Ryan in 2016, but compensation was not made until two years later.
"He never let up, refused numerous inducements offered which would have silenced him and allowed terrible crimes against children to remain in the shadows," Mr Hoysted said.
John Fitzgibbon, who was abused by Monsignor Day, described Mr Ryan as "a great man" who validated the abuse local children had suffered.
"He listened. [It was important] to be heard and believed because when we were younger, we didn't think anybody would believe it," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
"But it was always Denis who was there for you. He believed it because he had statements from us younger ones."
In 2015, Victoria Police admitted a conspiracy to cover up the crimes of Monsignor Day went right to the top, with Mr Ryan telling the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that "a Catholic mafia" within Victorian Police had thwarted his attempts to charge the priest.
"His determination meant a lot to us all," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
"He's a chap that's going to be really missed in our community and missed by a lot of victims that he still had time for."
Mr Ryan was named the Australia Day Citizen of the Year by Mildura Rural City Council in 2018.
Mildura Rural City councillor Ali Cupper, who also was a friend of Mr Ryan, said his story was one of international significance.
"People like him were unfortunately in the minority for a very long time, but who shone a light on one of the darkest chapters of our history — the rampant sexual abuse of children by people whose job it was to protect them," she said.
