A former elite swimming coach accused of sexually abusing multiple boys, including an Australian Olympian, has died in custody while awaiting trial.
Former national junior swimming coach John Wright, 79, was arrested last year after the ABC published allegations he sexually abused five boys he coached in Australia and abroad.
Queensland Corrective Services last night confirmed the death of a prisoner at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Secure Unit in Brisbane.
"The 79-year-old male was declared deceased on November 1," the spokesperson told the ABC.
"QCS will assist Queensland Police in preparing a report for the coroner."
Wright was the focus of several ABC investigations last year which uncovered allegations he sexually abused boys he trained at two Queensland pools in the 1980s.
Australian Olympian Shane Lewis complained to Swimming Australia in 2016 that he was sexually abused by Wright from the age of 11 to 13 in Brisbane.
Shane Lewis died in February 2021 and his family believe it was suicide.
The ABC also spoke to two other former elite swimmers who alleged Wright also sexually abused them as boys when he was their coach at the Chandler pool in Brisbane in the mid-1980s.
Another swimmer, Paul Shearer, alleged Wright abused him as a boy when he trained him at the Palm Beach Currumbin pool on the Gold Coast in the late 1980s.
Shearer took his own life in 2020.
The day after the ABC story was published, Queensland Police assembled a task force to investigate the allegations.
Two weeks later, Wright was arrested in Western Australia and extradited to Queensland to face nine charges of indecent dealing of a child and one count of common assault.
His first court appearance in Brisbane was delayed due to medical issues.
The Brisbane Magistrates Court heard he has been taken to hospital with chest pains.
In February, Queensland Police charged him with a further 20 offences after more complainants came forward.
