Defrocked priest John Geoghan, a central figure in the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal, has been killed by a fellow-inmate in the prison where he was serving a sentence for child rape, a state prisons official says.?There was an incident involving John Geoghan and another inmate around noon on Saturday. Geoghan sustained serious injury and was brought to Leominster Hospital where we was pronounced dead shortly before 2 p.m.?, said Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for the Massachu-setts Department of Corrections.

Nantel said the department was investigating in cooperation with the District Attorney's office. She said criminal charges may be brought against the other inmate, whose name she would not release. Geoghan, 67, was sent to the Souza-Baranowski Correction Centre in Shirley, Massachusetts, last year after being found guilty of having groped a young boy while they were swimming. Nantel said he was held in protective custody to shield him from most other inmates, but he still had contact with some.

More than 130 people have filed lawsuits claiming that Geoghan, who was defrocked in 1998, had molested them when he worked in several Boston-area parishes. His prosecution helped uncover a string of paedophile cases that shook the Catholic Church around the world and forced Cardinal Bernard Law to resign as Boston's archbishop late last year. The Church is now offering to pay $65 million to settle hundreds of sexual abuse charges filed by young men and women against the church. Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Riley called the scandal ?the greatest tragedy to befall children, ever? in the state.

The Archdiocese of Boston described his death as ?tragic?.?The Archdiocese of Boston offers its prayers for the repose of John's soul and extends its prayers and consolation to his beloved sister at this time of personal loss?, said Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for the Archdiocese.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents many young men who say they were molested by Geoghan, said he was shocked to hear of Geoghan's death. He said Patrick McSorley, one of Geoghan's best known victims, broke into tears at the news.?My clients would rather have seen John Geoghan be punished in a way seen fit by society?, he said. ?They would have rather seen him endure the rigors of two more trials and more prison sentences?.

Internal Church documents obtained by the media showed that Geoghan's sex abuse history was well known to church officials but that they continued to let him work with children. The Boston Globe reported last year that Geoghan was removed from four straight parishes between 1974 and 1989 for molesting children.

Nearly one year ago the Archdiocese of Boston settled the cases of 86 of Geoghan's victims for $10 million. More cases are pending.

Garabedian said he could not comment on whether Geoghan's death might affect the negotiations to settle outstanding sex abuse cases.

Svea Herbst-Bayliss