Sex charges dropped against Vic priest

Prosecutors have dropped child sex charges against a convicted Victorian pedophile priest who died last month.

Michael Glennon was serving a 14-year sentence for the abuse of 15 children between 1974 and 1991, mostly at youth camps at a rural property.

He died aged 69 on New Year's Day at the Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat.

It can now be revealed that Glennon was facing five charges of indecent assault against a boy between 1977 and 1978.

Prosecutors formally dropped the charges in the Victorian County Court on Thursday.

At the time of Glennon's death, Broken Rites researcher Bernard Barrett said his case had historical significance.

"Until Glennon was first jailed in 1978, abusive priests seemed to be immune from prosecution," Dr Barrett said.

He said Glennon's conviction prompted his victims and other victims of clergy abuse to come forward.

"The children in Glennon's court cases were not his only victims, they were merely those who eventually spoke to the police," Mr Barrett said.

"The world will never know exactly how many children Father Glennon abused. Even Glennon himself would have lost count of the real number."

Broadcaster Derryn Hinch spent 12 days in jail in 1987 for contempt of court after he revealed Glennon's prior conviction while a trial was pending.