A FORMER altar boy who was abused by a Catholic priest at Ouyen in the 1970s has been awarded $650,000 in damages.

The Supreme Court of Victoria was told the man, known as "LP", was one of numerous children that Father Bryan Coffey sexually abused after he was appointed parish priest at Ouyen in 1972, having earlier abused other children at various Victorian parishes.

Coffey, who died 2013, was ...