Prosecutors to charge priest's killer

Published: Aug. 24, 2003 at 6:46 PM

BOSTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Prosecutors plan to file homicide charges against the alleged prison killer of convicted pedophile priest John Geoghan.

Massachusetts prosecutors told Voice of America Sunday Geoghan was apparently strangled by a fellow inmate Saturday in a Massachusetts prison where he was serving a sentence for child sex abuse.

An autopsy is set for Monday.

The suspect, described by his father as a white supremacist with a hatred of homosexuals, is already serving a life sentence for murder.

Geoghan was accused of sexually assaulting more than 140 children during his career as a priest. Internal church documents obtained by the Boston Globe showed his sex abuse history was well known to church officials, who nonetheless continued to let him work with children.

A probe of the cases forced Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law to resign last year. The Boston archdiocese is now offering $65 million to settle hundreds of sex abuse cases.

Topics: John Geoghan

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Prosecutors to charge priest's killer