“Best was hideously violent towards the kids. He would bash us to keep us quiet. We were so scared to say anything against him,” said Simon (not his real name), a former pupil at St Alipius Parish School, where Best was headmaster.

After six trials over Best’s offending that lasted from 1969 to 1988, the Christian Brother this week pleaded guilty to two sex offences against two children at St Leo’s College in Melbourne and two similar offences against one child at St Joseph’s Christian Brothers College in Geelong.

“(Best) left a litany of abuse and abused people throughout Victoria and Tasmania. He left a trail of devastated people,” said Simon, who was abused by Best in the early 1970s.

While Simon welcomed the guilty plea by Best, he believed an apology from the Christian Brother would help in the healing process.

“He is now in jail and that’s good. He has finally admitted that yes, it did happen. This is not complete justice, just one aspect of it. Another aspect would be an apology from him ... and from the (Catholic) church,” Simon said.

“This conviction has taken 14 years while someone got up the gumption to seek some form of justice. It has been a long time coming.”

Simon, who was also a victim of jailed Ballarat priest Father Gerald Ridsdale, was an 11-year-old grade six pupil at St Alipius Parish School when the abuse by Best began in 1972.

Over a 12-month period there were “many, possiblydozens” of incidents. He said he was 14 when he was raped by Ridsdale.

“When we were kids, we were told these people were representatives of God and to not question them. Some (kids) did question them and told their parents about what was going on, but their parents didn’t believe them,” said Simon, who was 33 before he told his mother and father.

“I was very lucky to have a supportive family. Many other victims did not have that.”