WASHINGTON, Aug 24: John Geoghan, the Catholic priest whose paedophilia conviction uncapped a nationwide scandal involving hundreds of victims and dozens of priests, was killed in prison, media reports said Saturday.

Geoghan died Saturday afternoon after being strangled by a fellow prisoner in the state prison at Shirley, Massachusetts, the reports said.

Geoghan was serving a nine-to-10 year sentence for allegedly touching a young boy at a swimming pool, but was the subject of another 140 complaints of sexual abuse.

The Boston Globe newspaper’s investigative coverage of the Geoghan and other cases brought to light a series of sexual scandals that had been covered up by former Cardinal Bernard Law, who moved Geoghan and other priests from one post to another just ahead of complaints by angry parents.

Law later stepped down in disgrace from his position as Cardinal.

Massachusetts state corrections officials said the “responsible inmate” had been identified and the case was “under investigation”.—dpa