Paedophile priest John Sidney Denham dies in prison hospital

One of Australia's most prolific paedophile priests has died in prison.

In 2008, John Sidney Denham was charged by the nation's first police strike dedicated to targeting abuse by members of the clergy.

Much of Denham's abuse occurred at a school formerly known as St Pius X in Newcastle. (ABC)

In 2010, the defrocked Catholic priest was sentenced to 13 years and 10 months' jail for the abuse of 39 boys and was given extra jail time in 2015 after more instances of abuse came to light.

Many of Denham's victims have taken their own lives and one of the deaths sparked the child abuse royal commission.

Denham's crimes occurred mostly at Newcastle's St Pius X College, now known as Trinity College, in the 1970s and early 80s.

On Thursday, New South Wales prison officials confirmed the 82-year-old died at Long Bay on Friday.

Former detective Kristi Faber led Strike Force Georgiana and uncovered Denham's offending.

"He's definitely one of the worst paedophiles that the Catholic Church has seen and that Australia has seen," she said.

"There were 60 complainants who came forward and he was charged in relation to those.

Kristi Faber says the bravery of the survivors and their families in coming forward prevented Denham from destroying more lives. (ABC)

'Grief and devastation'

Ms Faber said she had the victims and their families in her heart.

"The grief and devastation doesn't go away for these families and these survivors.

"For them to come forward and be so brave and then to convict a man that could have gone on and continued to offend, they should be very … proud of themselves."

A Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle spokesperson said in a statement that the diocese acknowledged Denham was a "prolific and notorious child-abuser whose role as a priest and teacher gave him access to his victims".

"The death of an abuser is likely to raise issues for their survivors, in relation to the pain and harm they and their families live with," the spokesperson said.

"Our thoughts are with all those impacted."

Written by: Giselle Wakatama and Bridget Murphy, ABC News.