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.
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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