Former Christian Brother handed 10-year sentence for historic child abuse

A former teacher and school principal convicted of historical child sex abuse has been handed a further 10 years in prison.Former Christian Brother Paul Dunleavy, 89, with an address in Glen Road, Belfast, was found guilty in September of 36 charges of historical sexual abuse against nine boys.The charges included indecent assault and gross indecency with or towards a child.The offences were committed between 1964 and 1991 while Dunleavy worked at four schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh.

Victims of the former teacher and principal told how they have never been able to get over the abuse they suffered.

One victim from Belfast said how the abuse started at school when he was just five years old.

He said: “He was waiting when you arrived at school, always wanted to get kids into the car, sat you on his knee. That’s how it started.

“When you were five or six, you didn’t know what is right or wrong. You didn’t talk to anybody about it. It went on for a few years.

“Not only did it happen to me, but I witnessed it happening to other young boys.

“As I started to get older I started to realise things were wrong.

“People say time is a healer but this never goes away. There is always something to remind you. You can be watching TV and something will be a trigger. You are always fighting the battle in your head, there is no peace.”

The victim came forward to police after seeing a report on TV about other abuse carried out by Dunleavy.

Another victim said the abuse began while he was at primary school, years on it lead him to contemplate taking his own life.

He said: “I have tried in the past to kill myself. I have done a lot of self-harming. I started drinking as a child. All I wanted to do was get drunk to numb the pain. I didn’t care if I lived or died.”

The man said it took him decades to tell police about what had happened to him. He then had to face his abuser in court.

He said: “I didn’t recognise him in court. He was an old man, he didn’t have any power over me any longer. He looked old, frail. It was nerve-wracking having to give evidence. He wouldn’t admit what he had done."

The victims were aged between seven and 14 at the time.Dunleavy briefly bowed his head in the dock of Belfast Crown Court as sentence was passed on Thursday afternoon.He is already serving a prison sentence having been convicted previously on two separate occasions of sexual offences against children in his care.Those two cases involved nine other victims and included 36 other offences, meaning Dunleavy has now been convicted of a total of 72 offences involving 18 victims.

Passing sentence, Crown Court judge Patrick Lynch KC said the prison term would commence at the end of his current sentence in May 2026.Judge Lynch said Dunleavy, who the court heard has a life expectancy of around four years, felt he could conduct his predatory behaviour with impunity.“In this case the world would have been in a better place had he not served a lifetime in religious and public service,” he said.“His teaching career has been littered with the shattered psyches of his victims.“The church he purports to serve has been vilified because of the actions of this man and his ilk, characterised by loss of religious faith, of trust and desertion in droves by the formerly devout people of this island.”The judge added: “The court, during the trial, received a graphic picture of the accused as a large, robust man, nothing like the reduced figure now before the court.“An intimidating figure because of his physical presence, dressed all in black, striding school corridors and rooms, with the double authority of teacher/headmaster and priest.“A bully confident in his own position, assuming that no one would dare to report his crimes.“It is a sad reflection of those times that he felt he was able to conduct his predatory behaviour with impunity.”The judge attributed Dunleavy’s ongoing “persistent denials of guilt” to a “malign stubbornness” to admit to those who still support him, including some members of his family, that he is a “child molester”.

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