The Belfast Paedophile, Paul Dunleavy, a former member of the Christian Brothers is currently under trial for alleged sexual offences committed against young male students in the past.
Paul Dunleavy, aged 88 and residing on Glen Road in west Belfast, is currently facing trial for 32 charges.
Paul Dunleavy is accused of committing the acts against nine male complainants between 1964 and 1991 while working as a teacher or headmaster at four schools in Belfast, Newry, Co Down, and Co Armagh.
In his opening statement at Belfast Crown Court on Monday, Neil Connor KC stated that Paul Dunleavy served as a teacher from 1955 until his retirement in 1998 as a member of the Order of Christian Brothers.
He informed the panel that Paul Dunleavy served as an educator at Armagh Christian Brothers PS from 1960 to 1966.
Subsequently, he relocated to the Abbey Christian Brothers PS in Newry, where he served from 1966 until 1973. He then resumed his tenure at the school in 1987, assuming the position of headmaster until his retirement in 1998.
Paul Dunleavy also served as an educator at St Aiden’s Christian Brothers PS in west Belfast from 1973 to 1977, eventually assuming the position of headmaster.
Additionally, he served as the headmaster of Gortnamona Secondary School in west Belfast from 1985 to 1987.
“You will also hear members of the jury that Paul Dunleavy is also a convicted child sexual abuser.
You will hear that Paul Dunleavy was convicted on two separate occasions of a series of sexual offences against children in his care at many schools where he taught,” Mr Connor said.
“You will also hear from many people who have complained about his behaviour in this case.
“They were prompted to come forward to make complaints about the defendant in respect of what they say was the abuse they sustained at the defendant’s hands after reading press reports or hearing news reports about the previous proceedings on the television and seeing him on the TV.”
He told the jury that one complainant was in his 11-plus year at Armagh Christian Brothers PS around 1965/66.
Mr Connor told the jury that police interviewed Paul Dunleavy about the allegations, and he either replied “no comment’’ to all the questions or said, “It didn’t happen”.
The senior prosecutor added: “It is our case that once you have heard all the evidence in this case, you will be satisfied, so you are sure and firmly convinced that the defendant is guilty of each and every one of the charges on the bill of indictment.”
UPDATE 221124
A former teacher and school principal convicted of historical child sex abuse showed no remorse and no mercy to his victims, a judge has said.
Crown Court judge Patrick Lynch KC was responding to a plea for leniency in the sentencing of former Christian Brother Paul Dunleavy, 89, with a defence barrister saying there is very real prospect the defendant will die in jail.
Dunleavy, 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.
Clearly this defendant is going to be in prison well into his mid to late 90s and the very real prospect is that this defendant may die in prison
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 is already serving a prison sentence having been convicted previously on two separate occasions of sexual offences against children in his care.
Prosecuting barrister Neil Connor KC told a sentencing hearing at Belfast Crown Court on Friday that publicity around the previous convictions had led to further victims coming forward.
He added: “This was a substantial, complicated investigation involving a number of victims… this (case) is the largest in terms of the number of victims. Nine in this case, 18 in total.”
Defence barrister Gary McHugh KC said: “The most obvious feature I would invite the court to have regard to is the defendant’s age.
“Clearly this defendant is going to be in prison well into his mid to late 90s and the very real prospect is that this defendant may die in prison.
“There may be those who say so be it, but it is not as clear cut as the punitive component of the sentencing exercise.
“Prison for somebody in his 90s will be a significantly more difficult place than somebody in their 30s or 40s.”
It is hard to avoid the comment that your client showed no mercy to the victims of this case, your client insisted on them all having to give evidence
Mr McHugh added: “With all that goes with being a very elderly prisoner, that sense of isolation which comes with being so old compared to the rest of the prisoners, any sentence we say is more difficult for this defendant is more difficult than it would be for a younger and healthier man.”
The barrister said the current earliest release date from prison for Dunleavy is May 2026 – before he is sentenced for the latest conviction.
He added: “We say as part of any proper sentencing regime, mercy does remain a feature available to the court.”
Judge Lynch said: “It is hard to avoid the comment that your client showed no mercy to the victims of this case, your client insisted on them all having to give evidence, showed no mercy even up to this very moment, showed no remorse.”
Mr McHugh said: “I am straightforwardly asking for leniency because of this man’s age.”
Mr Connor told the court the latest case had doubled the number of victims Dunleavy had been convicted of abusing.
He said had there been a single trial involving 18 victims it would have attracted a higher custodial sentence than what Dunleavy is currently serving.
A number of victims of Dunleavy attended the court hearing.
The judge said he would pass sentence next Thursday.
UPDATE 291124
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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