Sydney, July 25 (IANS) Victims of sexual abuse by an Australian priest told a court Monday he robbed them of their innocence and destroyed their childhood. He even told one victim: "If you tell anyone what happened I'll f****** kill you."

Robert Charles Best, 70, appeared for a pre-sentence plea hearing for 21 offences against eight victims committed between 1969 and 1988 at Catholic schools in Ballarat, Geelong and Box Hill, the Herald Sun reported.

The victims told him how sick his serial sex attacks were.

"I stay up at night with the bastard on my mind and his hands on my body," a victim known only as A.B. told the court.

A.B. said he was a "plaything" for the priest, and said the church's dogged defence of Best "rubbed salt" into his wounds.

"Being schooled at the Geelong school was disturbing. Make the church reel with a heavy sentence on this sadistic predator," he told the court.

"He's a bully and a pervert. His Christianity doesn't mean a thing. A serious sentence is a much-needed slap in the face of this ignorant and arrogant institution."

Another victim B.C. said Best called him "dirty" after raping him, which left him with a lifelong complex about cleanliness.

He said the abuse caused him to be aggressive as he grew up, intolerant of authority and with a hatred of the church.

Prosecutor Amanda Forrester outlined to the court a horrific series of abuses while Best was a teacher and a school principal.

She said he touched the victims, rubbed their genitals, raped them and terrorised them.

Other priests knew of the abuse and were present when it occurred. On other occasions he forced other boys to take part in the abuse, she said.

Best was charged with sodomy and indecent assault against a male under 16.

He pleaded guilty in May to charges involving three boys.