Priest accused of abusing 31 boys
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Catholic priest John Sidney Denham is accused of sexually abusing 31 boys. (ABC: file photo)
A Sydney Catholic priest stands accused of sexually abusing 31 boys after another 13 alleged victims came forward.
Sixty-five-year-old John Sidney Denham was charged with 30 child sex offences dating back to the 1970s in August, relating to 18 alleged victims aged 11 to 17.
A further 37 charges were laid today, bringing the total number of alleged victims to 31.
Most were former students of Newcastle's St Pius X Catholic High School.
The charges arose from an initial single complaint made in April.
The alleged offences occurred in Adamstown, Pokolbin and Charlestown in the Hunter Valley, Taree and Granville in Sydney.
The 67 charges include soliciting or inciting a male to commit an indecent act and sexual assault.
Denham was a member of the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese before relocating to Sydney, where he was on restricted duties working as a librarian at a theological college.
The case has been adjourned to next month.
