Colin Ryan, who was a detective in the city for 24 years, headed the investigations into a number of south-west priests accused of sexual abuse.

In one of the investigations, he spoke to a number of parents who had travelled to Ballarat to complain to disgraced former Bishop Ronald Mulkearns about a priest’s conduct. Mulkearns died in 2016, months after he was widely condemned during the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse for failing to take action against pedophile priests.

“A number of the parents complained to his face and the result was that the priest was then moved to another parish, where he offended again,” Mr Ryan said.

“It was clearly shown that he moved many priests on.”

He said he believed clergy members who covered up child sexual abuse should hang their heads in shame.

“They’ve got as much culpability as the offenders have,” Mr Ryan said.

“It’s a pity Mulkearns didn’t face the same fate as the current Archbishop.”

Mr Ryan said the guilty verdict for Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was good news for survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of the church.

“The biggest satisfaction I got from doing those inquiries on the priests was giving the victims their day in court and helping them get the monkey off their back,” he said.

“I was glad I was able to give those little boys their day in court 30 years later.”

Mr Ryan said he hoped other priests involved in systematic cover ups of sexual abuse would face justice.

He said he believed the victims experienced a sense of relief when they were given the chance to share their story.

Mr Ryan said he also remembered some people taking issue with his investigations.

“I did get some feedback form people who were saying ‘why is Ryan picking on the priests?’’

Margaret Hatcher, the founder of Loud Fence – an advocacy group for survivors of clergy sexual abuse – said she hoped the guilty verdict would empower other survivors.