Australian ex-priest faces 90 sex assault charges

former Catholic priest has been charged with 60 fresh offences relating to sex assaults on boys while he was working at a prestigious boarding school in the 1970s and 80s, reports said on Wednesday.

Police would not confirm the identity of the man, saying only that they had arrested a 65-year-old on Tuesday in southwestern Sydney and that he has since been released on bail.

"He was taken to Hurstville police station where he was charged with 60 matters relating to historic sexual assault," a New South Wales police spokeswoman said.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said the suspect was a former Catholic priest who taught at St Stanislaus' College in Bathurst, west of Sydney, in the 1970s and 80s.

The college made headlines last month after former students came forward alleging they were molested during late-night prayer sessions.

The former priest has already appeared in Bathurst Local Court in August on 33 other charges relating to sexual assault and gross acts of indecency on juveniles aged between 10 and 18.

Reports said his court appearance prompted eight more alleged victims to make further allegations against the former cleric.

The man's lawyer, Greg Walsh, said his client had emphatically denied the allegations and he was concerned that the latest complaints had emerged only "as a result of gross contamination" in the media.

"The real concern here is whether someone such as my client can obtain a fair trial in these circumstances," he told Sydney's Daily Telegraph .

Police have said that no current teachers at St Stanislaus' are under suspicion but have refused to reveal whether other former staff were involved in the alleged abuse.

College principal John Edwards has said that police had previously served him with a search warrant which listed the names of three former staff members.

In July, Pope Benedict XVI publicly expressed his "shame" over the "evils" of clerical child abuse during a visit to Australia, saying he was "deeply sorry" for the abuse of children by predatory priests.